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MUNSEY’S POPULAR SERIES, No. 12. 


IN THE 



WILDS OF NEW MEXICO 




A 


BY 


. vV 


/ V 

G. M. FENN. 

?* 




NEW YORK: 





FRANK A. MUN8EY, PUBLISHER. 




























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bart deer hunting.- - $ee page 63 , 



IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER I. 

THEY DECIDE TO RUN THE RISK. 

“"Well, Joses,” said Dr. Lascelles, “if you feel 
afraid, you had better go back to the city.” 

A deep silence ensued, and the little party 
grouped about between a small umbrella shaped 
tent and the dying embers of the fire, at which a 
meal of savory antelope steak had lately been 
cooked, carefully avoided glancing one at the other. 

Just inside the entrance to the tent a pretty, 
slight made girl of about seventeen was seated, 
busily plying her needle in the repair of some rents 
in a pair of ornamented loose leather leggins that 
had evidently been making acquaintance with some 
of the thorns of this rugged land. She was very 
simply dressed, and, though wearing the high comb 
and veil of a Spanish woman, her complexion, tanned 
as it was, and features suggested that she might 
have been from New England, as did also the speech 
of the fine athletic middle aged man who liacl just 
been speaking. 

His appearance was decidedly Spanish, for he 
wore the short jacket with embroidered sleeves, 
tight trousers — made very wide about the leg and 
ankle — sash, and broad sombrero of the Mexican 
Spaniard. 


e 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


The man addressed was a swarthy looking half 
breed, who lay upon the parched earth, his brow 
* rugged, his eyes half closed, and lips pouted out in 
a surly, resentful way, as if he was just about to 
speak and say something ugly. 

Three more men of a similar type were lying be- 
side and behind, all smoking cigarettes, which from 
time to time they softly rolled up and lighted with 
a brand at the fire, as they listened to the convoca- 
tion between the bronzed New Englander and km 
who had been addressed as Joses. 

They were all half breeds, and, like the first 
speaker, were dressed as Spaniards, each also wear- 
ing a handkerchief of bright color tied round his 
head and beneath his soft hat. 

There was another present, however, also an anx- 
ious watcher of the scene, and that was a well built 
youth of about the same age as the girl. 

His appearance was different from that of his 
companions, for he wore a closely fitting tunic and 
loose breeches of what at the first glance seemed 
to be tan colored velvet, but a second look showed 
to be very soft, well prepared deerskin; stout 
gaiters of a hard leather protected his legs; a belt, 
looped so as to form a cartridge holder, and a natty 
little felt hat, completed his costume. 

“Well,” said the speaker, after a long pause, “you 
do not speak; I say, are you afraid?” 

“ I dunno, boss,” said the man addressed. “ I 
don’t feel afraid now, but if a lot of Injuns come 
whooping and swooping down upon us full gallop, I 
dessay I should feel a bit queer.” 

There was a growl of acquiescence here from the 
other men, and the first speaker went on. 

“ Well,” he said, “ let us understand our position 
at once. I would rather go on alone than with men 
I could not trust.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


7 


“Always did trust us, boss,” said the man, surlily. 

“ Allays,” said the one nearest to him, a swarthier, 
more surly, and fiercer looking fellow than his com- 
panion. 

“I always did, Joses; I always did, Juan; and you 
too, Harry and Sam,” said the fiist speaker. “ I was 
always proud of the way in which my ranch was pro- 
tected and my cattle cared for.” 

“ We could not help the Injuns stampeding the 
lot, boss, time after time.” 

“And ruining me at last, my lads? No; it was 
no fault of yours. I suppose it was my own.” 

“ No, boss, it was settling so close to the hunting 
grounds, and the Injuns being so near.” 

“ Ah, well, we need not consider how all that came 
to pass, my lads; we know they ruined me.” 

“ And you never killed one o’ them for it, boss,” 
growled Joses. 

“ Nor wished to, my lad. They did not take our 
lives.” 

“But they would if they could have broken in 
and burnt us out, boss,” growled Joses. 

“Perhaps so; well, let us understand one another, 
Are you afraid ?” 

“ Suppose we all are, boss,” said the m^n, 

“And you want to go back ?” 

“No, not one of us.” 

Here there was a growl of satisfaction. 

“ But you object to going forward, my men?” 

“Well, you see it’s like this, boss; the boys here 
all want to work for you, and young Master Bart, 
and Miss Maudie there; but they think you ought 
to go where it’s safe, and not where we’re ’most sure 
to be tortured and scalped. There’s lots o’ places 
where the whites are in plenty.” 

“And where every gully and mountain has been 
jrans^cked for metals, my lad. I want to go where 


8 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


white men have never been before, and search the 
mountains there.” 

“For gold and silver and that sort of thing, 
boss?” 

“ Yes, mj lads.” 

“All right, boss; then we suppose you must go.” 

“ And you will go back because it is dangerous ?” 

“ I never said such a word, boss. I only said it 
warn’t safe.” 

“ And for answer to that, Joses, I say that, danger 
or no danger, I must try and make up for my past 
losses by some good venture in one of these un- 
known regions. Now, then, have you made up your 
minds ? If not, make them up quickly, and let me 
know what you mean to do.” 

Joses did not turn round to his companions, whose 
spokesman he was, but said quietly, as he rolled up 
afresh cigarette: 

“Mind’s made up, boss.” 

“ And you will go back ?” 

“ Yes, boss.” 

“All of you?” 

“ All of us,” said Joses, slowly. “ When you do,” he 
added, after a pause. 

“ I knew he would say that, sir,” cried the youth, 
who had been looking on and listening attentively; 
“I knew Joses would not leave us, nor any of the 
others.” 

“ Stop a moment,” interposed the first speaker. 
“What about your companions, my lad?” 

“What, them?” said Joses, quietly. “Why, they 
do as I do.” 

“ Are you sure ?” 

“ Course I am, boss. They told me what to do.” 

“Then thank you, my lads. I felt and knew I 
could trust you. Believe me, I will take you into no 
greater danger than I can help; but we "must be & 


in the wilds op new Mexico. 


9 


little venturesome in penetrating into new lands, 
and the Indians may not prove our enemies after 
all.” 

“Ha, ha, ha! haw, haw, haw!” laughed Joses, 
hoarsely. “You wait and see, boss. They stam- 
peded your cattle when you had any. Now look out, 
or they’ll stampede you.” 

“ Well, we’ll risk it,” said the other. “ Now let's 
be ready for any danger that comes. Saddle the 
horses, and tether them close to the wagon. I will 
have the first watch tonight; you take the second, 
Joses; and you, Bart, take the third. Get to sleep 
-early, my lads, for I want to be off before sunrise in 
the morning.” 

The men nodded their willingness to obey orders, 
and soon after all were hushed in sleep, the ever 
wakeful stars only looking down upon one erect fig- 
ure, and that was the form of Dr. Lascelles, as he 
stood near the faintly glowing fire, leaning upon 
his rifle, and listening intently for the faintest sound 
of danger. 

As the doctor stood watching there, his thoughts 
naturally went back to the events of the past day, 
the sixth since they had bidden good by to civiliza- 
tion and started upon their expedition. He thought 
of the remonstrance offered by his men to their pro- 
ceeding farther; then of the satisfactory way in 
which the difficulty had been settled; and later on 
of the troubles brought up by his man’s remarks. 
He recalled the weary years he had spent upon his 
cattle farm, in which he had invested after the death 
of his wife in New England; how he had come out 
to New Mexico, and settled down to form a cattle 
breeding establishment, with his young daughter 
Maude for companion. 

Then he thought how everything had gone wrong, 
not only with him, but with his neighbors, one of 


10 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO, 


the nearest being killed by an onslaught of a savage 
tribe of Indians, the news being brought to him by 
the son of the slaughtered man. The result had 
been that the doctor had determined to flee at 
once; but the day was put off, and as no more 
troubles presented themselves just then, he once 
more settled down. 

Young Bart Woodlaw, the murdered ranchman’s 
boy, became by degrees almost as it were a son to 
the doctor, and the fight was continued till herd after 
herd had been swept away by the Indians; and at 
last Dr. Lascelles, the clever physician who had 
wearied of his lonely home and his practice after his 
terrible loss, and who had come out West to seek 
rest and make money for his child, found himself 
next to a beggar and obliged to begin life again. 

Earlier in life he had been a great lover of geol- 
ogy, and was something of a mineralogist; and 
though he had of late devoted himself to the wild, 
rough life of a Western cattle rancher, he had now 
and then spent a few hours in exploring the moun- 
tainous parts of the country near; so that when he 
had once more to look the world in the face and de- 
cide whether he should settle down as some more 
successful cattle breeder’s foreman, the idea occurred 
to him that his knowledge of geology might prove 
useful in this painful strait. 

He jumped at the idea. 

“Of course; why not? Scores of men had made 
discoveries of gold, silver, and other valuable met- 
als, and the result had been fortunes. Why should 
not he do something of the kind ?” 

He mentioned the idea to Bartholomew Woodlaw, 
who jumped at the prospect, but looked grave di- 
rectly after. 

“I should like it, Mr. Lascelles,” he said, “but 
there is Maud,” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


11 


“ What of her ?” said the doctor. 

“ How could we take her into the wilds?” 

“ It would be safer to take her into the deserts 
and mountains than to leave her here,” said the doc- 
tor, bitterly. “ I should at least always have her 
under my eye.” 

He went out and told his men, who were hanging 
about the old ranch, although there was no work for 
them to do. 

One minute they were looking dull and gloomy, 
the next they were waving their hats and blankets 
in the air, and the result of it all was that in less 
than a month Dr. Lascelles had stored a wagon with 
the wreck of his fortune, purchased a small tent for 
his daughter’s use, and, all well armed, the little 
party had started off into the wilds of New Mexico, 
bound for the mountain region, where the doctor 
hoped to make some discovery of mineral treasure 
sufficient to recompense him for all his risk, as well 
as for the losses of the past. 

They Avere, then, six days out Avhen there was what 
had seemed to be a sort of mutiny among his men — 
a trouble that he Avas in the act, of quelling Avhen we 
made his acquaintance in the last chapter — though, 
as AA r e have seen, it proved to be no mutiny at all, 
but merely a remonstrance, on the part of the 
rough, honest fellows Avho had decided to share his 
fortunes, against running into what they esteemed 
to be unnecessary risks, 


12 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO, 


CHAPTER IL 

THE FIRST APACHES. 

Evening was closing in, and the ruddy horizontal 
rays of the sun were casting long, grotesque shadows 
of the tall cactus plants, when a body of Indians, 
about a hundred strong, rode over the plain towards 
the rocks where Dr. Lascelles and his little party 
were encamped. 

The appearance of the Indians denoted that they 
were on the war path. Each wore a rude tiara of 
feathers around his head, beneath which hung his 
long black hair; and, saving their fringed and orna- 
mented leggins, the men rode for the most part 
naked, and with their breasts and arms painted in a 
coarse and extravagant style. 

All were fully armed, some carrying rifles, others 
bows and arrows, while a few bore spears, from the 
top of whose shafts below the blades hung tufts of 
feathers. 

The rugged nature of the ground separated the 
party of Indians from the doctor’s little camp, so 
that the approach of the war party was quite unob- 
served, and apparently, from their movements, they 
were equally unaware of the presence of a camp of 
the hated whites so near at hand. 

They were very quiet, riding slowly and in regu- 
lar order, as if moved by one impulse; and when the 
foremost men halted, all drew rein by some tolerably 
verdant patches of the plain, blankets and robes 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


13 


were unstrapped, and the horses allowed to graze. 
In an incredibly short time the band had half a 
dozen fires burning of wood that had been hastily 
collected, and they were ravenously devouring the 
strips of dried buffalo meat that had been hanging 
all day in the hot sun, to be peppered with dust 
from the plain. 

This, however, did not trouble the savages, whom 
one learned in the lore of the plains would have im- 
mediately set down as belonging to a powerful tribe 
of horse Indians — the Apaches, well known for their 
prowess in war and their skill as wild horsemen of 
the plains. They feasted on, like men whose appe- 
tites had become furious from long fasting, until at 
last they had satisfied their hunger, and the evening 
shadows were making the great plants of cactus 
stand up, weird and strange, against the fast darken- 
ing evening sky; then, while the embers of the fire 
grew more ruddy and bright, each Indian, save 
those deputed to look after the horses and keep on 
the watch for danger, drew his blanket or buffalo 
robe over his naked shoulders, filled and lit his 
long pipe, and began silently and thoughtfully to 
smoke. 

Meanwhile, in utter unconsciousness of the near- 
ness of danger, Dr. Lascelles continued his watch 
thus far into the night. From time to time he ex- 
amined the tethering of the horses, and glanced in- 
side the tent to stand and listen to the regular low 
breathing of his child, and then walk to where, 
rolled in his blanket, Bart Woodlaw lay sleeping in 
full confidence that a good watch was being kept 
over the camp as he slept. 

Away towards the open plains it was clear and 
transparent, but towards the rocks that stretched 
there on one side all seemed black. Not a sound 
fell upon the doctor’s ear, and so great was the still- 


14 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


ness that the dull crackle of a piece of smoldering 
wood sounded painfully loud and strange. 

At last the time had come for arousing some one 
to take his place, and walking, after a few moments’ 
thought, to where Bart lay, he bent down and 
touched him lightly on the arm. 

In an instant, rifle in hand, the lad was upon his 
feet. 

“ Is there danger ?” he said, in a low, quiet 
whisper. 

“I hope not, Bart,” said the doctor, quietly; 
“everything is perfectly still. I shall lie down in 
front of the tent; wake me if you hear a sound.” 

The lad nodded, and then stood trying to shake 
off the drowsiness that still remained after his deep 
sleep while he watched the doctor’s figure grow in- 
distinct as he walked towards the dimly seen tent. 
He could just make out that the doctor bent down, 
and then he seemed to disappear. 

Bart had been watching the stars for about an 
hour, staring at the distant plain, and trying to 
make out what was the real shape of a pile of rock 
that sheltered them on the north, and which seemed 
to stand out peculiarly clear against the dark sky, 
when, turning sharply, he brought his rifle to the 
ready, and stood, with beating heart, staring at a 
tall dark figure a dozen yards aw r ay. 

It was so dark that he could make out nothing 
more, only that it w r as a man, and that he did not 
move. 

Bart’s first idea was that this must be an enemy, 
and tliat he ought to fire. If an enemy, it must be 
an Indian; but then it did not look like an Indian; 
and Bart knew that it was his duty to w r alk boldly 
up to the figure, and see what the danger was; and 
in this spirit he took one step forward, and then 
stopped, for it was not an easy thing to do. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


15 


At last lie mastered himself, and, with rifle lielcp 
ready, walked boldly towards the figure, believing 
that it was some specimen of the fleshy growth of 
the region to which the darkness had added a weird- 
ness all its own. 

No. It was a man undoubtedly, and as, nerving 
himself more and more, Bart walked close up, the 
figure turned and said slowly: 

“ I can’t quite make that out, Master Bart.” 

“You, Joses !” exclaimed Bart, whose heart seemed 
to give a bound of delight. 

“ Yes, sir, I thought I'd get up and watch for a 
bit, and just as I looked round before coming to 
you, that rock took my fancy.” 

“ Yes, it does look quaint and strange,” said 
Bart; “I had been watching it.” 

“ Yes, but why do it kok quaint and strange?” 
said Joses, in a low, quiet whisper, speaking as if a 
dozen savages were at his elbow. 

“ Because we can see it against the sky,” replied 
Bart, who felt half amused at the importance placed 
by his companion upon such a trifle. 

“ And why can you see it against the sky ?” said 
Joses again. “ Strikes me there’s a fire over yon- 
der.” 

Bart was about to exclaim, “ What nonsense !” 
but he recalled the times when out hunting up 
stray cattle Joses had displayed a perception that 
had seemed almost marvelous, and so he held his 
tongue. 

“ I’ll take a turn out yonder, my lad,” he said, 
quietly; “ I won’t be very long.” 

“ Shall I wake up the doctor?” 

“ No, not yet. Let him get a good rest,” replied 
Joses. “ Perhaps it’s nothing to mind; but coming 
out here we must be always ready to find danger, 
and danger must find us on the lookout.” 


16 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


“ I’ll go with you,” said Bart, eagerly. 

“No, that won’t do,” said the rough fellow sturd- 
ily. “You’ve got to keep watch like they tell me 
the sailors do out at sea. Who’s to take care of the 
camp if you go away?” 

“ I’ll stay then,” said Bart, with a sigh of dissatis- 
faction, and the next moment he was alone. For 
Joses had thrown down his blanket, and laid his 
rifle upon it carefully, while over the lock he had 
placed his broad Spanish hat to keep off the moist- 
ure of the night air. Then he had gone silently off 
at a trot over the short and scrubby growth near at 
hand. 

The rough cattle driver and plainsman continued 
his trot till the broken nature of the ground com- 
pelled him to proceed cautiously, threading his way 
in and out amongst the masses of rock, and forcing 
him to make a considerable detour before he passed 
the ridge of stone. 

His first act was to drop down on hands and 
knees, his next to lie flat and drag himself slowly 
forward a couple of hundred yards, and then stop. 

It was quite time that he did, for on either hand, 
as well as in front, lay groups of Indians, while just 
beyond he could distinguish the horses calmly crop- 
ping the grass and other herbage near. So still w as 
it, and so closely had he approached, that every 
mouthful seized by the horses sounded quite plainty 
upon his ear, while more than once came the mut- 
terings of some heavy sleeper, with an occasional 
hasty movement on the part of some one who was 
restless. 

Joses had found out all he wanted, and the next 
thing was to get back and give the alarm. But, as 
is often the case in such matters, it was easier to 
come than to return. It had to be done, though, 
for the position of those in the little camp was one 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


17 


fall of peril, and, turning softly, he had begun his 
retrograde movement, when a figure he had not 
seen suddenly uttered an impatient “Ugh!” and 
started to his feet. 

Joses’s hand went to his belt and grasped his 
knife, but that was all. It was not the time for tak- 
ing to headlong flight, an act which would have 
brought the whole band whooping and yelling at his 
heels. 

Fortunately for the spy in the Indian camp, the 
night was darker now, a thin veil of cloud having 
swept over the stars; otherwise the fate of Dr. Las- 
celles’s expedition would have been sealed. As it 
was, the Indian kicked the form beside him heavily 
with his moccasined foot, and then walked slowly 
away in the direction of the horses. 

Some men would have continued their retreat at 
once, perhaps hurriedly, but Joses was too old a 
campaigner for such an act. As he lay there with 
his face buried deeply in the short herbage, he 
thought to himself that most probably the waking 
up of the Indian who had just gone, the kick, and 
the striding away, would have aroused some of the 
others, and in this belief he lay perfectly still for 
quite ten minutes. 

Then, feeling satisfied that he might continue his 
retreat, he was drawing himself together for a fresh 
start, when a man on his right leaped to his feet, 
another did the same, and after talking together for 
a few moments, they, too, went off in the direction 
of the horses. 

This decided Joses upon a fresh wait, which he 
kept up till feeling that, safe or unsafe, he must 
make the venture, he once more started, crawling 
slowly along without making a sound, till he felt it 
safe to rise to his hands and knees, when he got 
over the ground far more swiftly, ending by spring- 


18 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


in g to his feet, and listening intently for a few mo- 
ments, when there was the faint neigh of a horse 
from the Indian camp. 

“If one of ours hears that,” muttered Joses, “he’ll 
answer, and the Indians will be down upon us be- 
fore we know where we are.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


19 


CHAPTER III. 

SURROUNDED BY INDIANS. 

Bart Woodlaw had not been keeping his renewed 
watch long before he heard a step behind him, and, 
turning sharply, found himself face to face with Dr. 
Lascelles. 

“ Well, my boy,” he said, “ is all right?” 

“ I think so, sir. Did you hear anything ?” 

“ No, my boy; I woke up and just came to see how 
matters were going. Any alarm ?” 

“ Yes, sir, and no, sir,” replied Bart. 

“ What do you mean ?” exclaimed the doctor, 
sharply. 

“Only that Joses woke up, sir, and I found him 
watching that mass of rock which you can see out 
yonder. That one, sir — no ! — I can’t see it now.” 

“Why,” said the doctor, in a quick, low, decisive 
tone; “is it darker now?” 

“Very little, sir; but perhaps Joses was right; he 
said he thought there must be a fire out there to 
make it stand out so clearly, and ” 

“ Well, speak, my boy ! Be quick !” 

“ Perhaps he was right, sir, but I cannot see the 
rock there at all.” 

“ Where is Joses ? Why did he not go and see ?” 
exclaimed the doctor sharply. 

“ He has been gone nearly an hour, sir, and I was 
expecting him back when you came.” 

“ That’s right ! But which way ? Joses must 


20 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


feel that there is danger, or he would not have left 
the camp like this.” 

Bart pointed in the direction taken by their fol- 
lower, and the doctor took a few hasty strides for- 
ward, as if to follow, but he came back directly. 

“No. It would be folly,” he said; “I should not 
find him out in this wild. Depend upon it, Bart, 
that was an Indian fire and camp out beyond the 
ridge yonder, and he suspected it. These old plains- 
men read every sign of earth and sky, and we must 
learn to do the same, boy, for it may mean the sav- 
ing of our lives.” 

“ I’ll try it,” said Bart, earnestly. “ I can follow 
a trail a little now.” 

“ Yes, and your eyes are wonderfully keen,” re- 
plied the doctor. “ You have all the acute sense of 
one of these hunters, but you want the power of ap- 
plying what you see, and learning its meaning.” 

Bart was about to reply, but the doctor began 
walking up and down impatiently, for being more 
used than his ward in the ways of the plains, he 
could not help feeling sure that there was danger, 
and this idea grew upon him to such an extent 
that at last he roused the men from their sleep, bid- 
ding them silently get the horses ready for an im- 
mediate start, should it be necessary; and while this 
was going on he went into the tent. 

“Maude — my child — quick!” he said, quietly. 
“ Don’t be alarmed, but wake up, and be ready for a 
long ride before dawn.” 

Maude was well accustomed to obey promptly all 
her father’s orders, and so used to the emergencies 
and perils of frontier life, that she said nothing, but 
rapidly prepared for their start, and in a tew min- 
utes she was ready with all her little traveling pos- 
sessions in the saddle bags and valise that were 
strapped to her horse. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


21 


Just as the doctor had seen that all was nearly 
ready, and that scarcely anything more remained to 
be done than to strike the little tent, Joses came 
running up. 

“Well! what news ?” said the doctor, hurriedly. 

“ Injuns — hundreds — mile away,” said the plains- 
man, in quick, sharp tones. “ Hah ! good !” he 
added, as he saw the preparations that had been 
made. 

“ Bart, see to Maude’s horse. Down with the 
tent, Joses; Harry, help him. You, Juan and Sam, 
see to the horses.” 

Every order was obeyed with the promptitude 
displayed in men accustomed to a life on the plains, 
and in a very few minutes the tent was down, 
rolled up, and on the side of the wagon, the steeds 
were ready, and all mounting save Juan, who took 
his place in front of the wagon to drive its two 
horses, Dr. Lascelles gave the word. Joses went to 
the front to act as pioneer, and pick a way unin- 
cumbered with stones, so that the wagon might go 
on in safety, and the camp was left behind. 

Everything depended now upon silence. A shrill 
neigh from a mare would have betrayed them; even 
the louder rattle of the wagon wheels might have 
had that result, and brought upon them the maraud- 
ing party, with a result that the doctor shuddered 
to contemplate. 

There were moments when, in the face of such a 
danger, he felt disposed to make his way back to 
civilization, dreading now to take his child out with 
him into the wilderness. But there was something 
so tempting in the freedom of the life; he felt so 
sanguine of turning his knowledge of mineralogy to 
some account; and what was more, it seemed so 
cowardly to turn back now, that he decided to go 
forward and risk all. 


22 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“We always have our rifles,” he said, softly, to 
himself; “and if we can use them well, we may force 
the Indians to respect us.” 

They were journeying nearly due north, and so 
far they had got on quite a couple of miles without 
a horse uttering its shrill neigh. It was possible 
now, silent as was the night, their cry might not 
reach the keen ears of their enemies; but all the 
same, the party proceeded as cautiously as possible, 
and, beyond an order now and then given in a low 
voice, there was not a word uttered. 

It was hard work, too; for, jiroceeding as they 
were in comparative darkness, every now and then 
a horse would place its foot in the burrow of some 
animal, and nearly fall headlong. Then, too, in 
spite of all care and pioneering, a wheel of the wagon 
would sink into some hollow or be brought heavily 
against the side of a rock. 

Sometimes they had to alter their direction to 
avoid rapidly rising ground, and these obstacles be- 
came so many, that towards morning they came to 
a halt, regularly puzzled, and not knowing whether 
they were journeying away from or towards their 
enemies. 

A couple of dreary hours ensued, during which 
they could do nothing but wait for daybreak, which, 
when it came at last, seemed cold and black and 
dreary. 

A good breakfast and a few hours’ rest seemed to 
put a different aspect upon the face of affairs; the 
day was glorious, and though the region they were 
in was arid and wanting in water, there was plenty 
to interest any one traveling on an expedition of re- 
search. A good lookout rvas kept for Indians, but 
Dr. Lascelles determined, if he could find a spring 
anywhere at hand, to stay where lie was for a couple 
of days. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


23 


“You see, Bart,” he said, as they hunted about 
among the craggiest part of the amphitheater where 
fortune or misfortune had led them, “ it does not 
much matter where we go, so long as it is into a re- 
gion where prospectors have not penetrated before. 
Many of these hills are teeming with mineral treas- 
ures, and we must come upon some of Nature’s 
wasting store if we persevere.” 

“ Then we might find metals here, sir ?” said Bart, 
eagerly. 

“ As likely here as anywhere else. These rocks 
are partly quartz, and at any time we may come upon 
some of the stone veined with gold, or stumble upon 
a place where silver lies.” 

“ I hope,” laughed Bart, “ when we do, I may 
stumble right over one of the blocks, and so be sure 
of examining it. I think I should know silver if I 
found it.” 

“I am not so sure,” said the doctor. “You’ve led 
a life of a kind that has not made you very likely 
to understand minerals, but I dare say we shall both 
know a little more about them before we have done 
— that is,” he added, with a sigh, “ if the Indians 
will leave us alone.” 

“ We must give them the slip, sir,” said Bart, 
laughing. 

“ Perhaps we may, my boy; but we- have another 
difficulty to contend with.” 

“What’s that, sir; the distance?” 

“No, Bart; I’m uneasy about the men. I’m afraid 
they’ll strike sooner or later, and insist upon going 
back.” 

“ I’m not, sir,” replied Bart. “ I will answer for 
Joses, and he has only to say he means to go for- 
ward and the others will then keep by his side.” 

“ That settles me upon going forward this even- 
ing,” said the doctor, “ for water seems to be very 


24 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


scarce. We must try and strike the river higher up, 
and follow its course. We shall then have plenty of 
water always within reach, and find wood and trees 
and hiding places.” 

“ But I thought you wanted to get into a mount- 
ainous part, sir, where precious minerals would be 
found,” said Bart. 

“ Exactly, my dear boy, and that is just the place 
we shall reach if we persevere, for it is up in these 
rocky fastnesses, where the rivers have their sources, 
that sometimes their beds are sprinkled with the 
specks, and also with pieces of gold that have been 
washed out of the sides of the mighty hills.” 

They went on thoughtfully for a time, till they 
were close upon the little camp. 

When they were just about to turn into the nar- 
row opening where the wagon lay and the horses 
were tethered, the doctor stooped down to examine 
some fragments that lay loose about their feet, and 
the consequence was that Bart went on alone. 

He was just about to give a peculiar whistle, one 
used commonly by himself and the men when they 
wished to signal their whereabouts, when he stop- 
ped short. An alarming spectacle was before him. 
He raised his rifle to his shoulder, and stood ready 
to fire, while his face, tanned as it was by the sun, 
turned of a sickly hue. 

For a moment he was about to fire. Then he felt 
that he must rush forward and save Maude. The 
next moment calmer reflection told him that such 
help and strength as he could command would be 
needed, and, slipping back out of sight, he ran to 
where he had left the doctor. 

He found him sitting down examining, by means 
of a little magnifying glass, one of the fragments of 
rock that he had chipped off, while his rifle lay 
across his knee. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


25 


He seemed so calm and content that in those mo- 
ments of emergency Bart almost shrank from speak- 
ing, knowing, as he did, how terrible would be the 
effect of his words. 

Just then the doctor looked up, saw his strange 
gaze, and, dropping the fragments, he leaped to his 
feet. 

“What is it?” he cried; “what is wrong?” and as 
he spoke the lock of his double rifle gave forth two 
ominous clicks twice over. 

“ They have come round w T hile we have been 
away,” whispered Bart, hoarsely. 

“ They ? Who ? Our men ?” 

“No,” panted Bart; “the camp is surrounded by 
Indians !” 


I 


26 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER IV. 

A SURGICAL OPERATION. 

Dr. Lascelles ran swiftly towards the wagon, with 
Bart close upon his heels. 

The full extent of tlieir peril was at once apparent, 
no less than twelve mounted Indians being at the 
head of the little valley in a group, every man in full 
war paint, and with his rifle across his knees as he 
sat upon his sturdy Indian pony. 

Facing them were Maude, Joses, Juan and the 
other two men, who had apparently been taken by 
surprise, and who, rifle in hand, seemed to be parley- 
ing with the enemy. 

The sight of the reinforcement in the shape of Bart 
and Dr. Lascelles made the Indians utter a loud 
“ Ugh!” and for a moment they seemed disposed to 
assume the offensive, but to Bart’s surprise they only 
urged their ponies forward a few yards, and then 
stopped. 

“ Get behind the wagon quick, my child,” panted 
the doctor, as Bart rushed up to his old companion’s 
side. 

“ They came down upon us all at once, boss,” 
said Joses. “They didn’t come along the trail.” 

“ Show a bold front,” exclaimed the doctor ; “ we 
may beat them off.” 

To his surprise, however, the Indians did not seem 
to mean fighting, one of them, who appeared to be 
the chief, riding forward a few yards, and saying 
{something in his own language. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


27 


“What does he say?” said the doctor, impatiently. 

“I can’t make him out,” replied Joses. “His is a 
strange tongue to me.” 

“ He is hurt,” exclaimed Bart. “ He is wounded 
in the arm. I think he is asking for something.” 

It certainly had that appearance, for the Indian 
was holding rifle and reins in his left hand, while the 
right arm hung helplessly by his side. 

This was no time for hesitating, and as it seemed 
to be as Bart had intimated the doctor risked this 
being a maneuver on the part of the Indian chief. 
Holding his rifle ready, he stepped boldly forward 
to where the dusky warrior sat calm and motionless 
upon his horse. 

Upon going close up, there was no longer any room 
for doubt. The chief’s arm was roughly bandaged, 
and the coarse cloth seemed to be eating into the 
terribly swollen flesh. 

That was enough. All the doctor’s old instincts 
came at once to the front, and he took the injured 
limb in his hand. He must have caused the Indian 
intense pain, but the fine bronzed looking fellow, 
who had features of a keen aquiline type, did not 
move a muscle, while, as the doctor laid his rifle up 
against a rock, the little mounted band uttered in 
chorus a sort of grunt of approval. 

“ It is peace, Bart,” said the doctor. “ Maude, my 
child, get a bowl of clean water, towels and some 
bandages. Bart, get out my surgical case.” 

As he spoke, he motioned to the chief to dismount, 
which he did, throwing himself lightly from his pony, 
the well trained animal standing motionless, and 
bending down its head to crop the nearest herbage. 

“ Throw a blanket down upon that sage brush, 
Joses,” continued the doctor ; and this being done, 
the latter pointed to it, making signs that the chief 
should sit down. 


28 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


He did not stir for a few moments, but gazed 
se archin gly round at the group, till he saw Maude 
come forward with a tin bowl of clean water and the 
bandages, followed by Bart, who had in his hand a 
little surgical case. Then he took a few steps for- 
ward, laying his rifle down amongst the short shrubby 
growth, while Juan, Sam, and Harry on the one side, 
and mounted Indians upon the other, looked curious- 
ly on. 

Once there was a low murmur among the latter as 
the doctor drew a keen, long knife from its sheath 
at his belt ; but the chief did not wince, and all were 
once more still. 

“ He has been badly hurt in a fight,” said the 
doctor, “ and the rough surgery of his tribe or his 
medicine man does not act.” 

“That’s it, boss,” said Joses, who was standing 
close by with rifle ready in case of treachery. “ His 
medicine man couldn’t tackle that, and they think 
all white men are good doctors. It means peace.” 

“ I think so,” replied the doctor. “ Yes ; these In- 
dians are friendly, but we must be on our guard. 
Don’t show that we are suspicious though. Help me 
as I dress this arm. Maude, my child, you had better 
go into the wagon.” 

“ I am not afraid, father,” she said quietly. 

“ Stay, then,” he said ; “ you can be of use, per- 
haps.” 

He spoke like this, for, in their rough frontier life, 
the girl had had more than one experience of sur- 
gery. Men had been wounded in fights with the 
Indians ; others had suffered from falls and tramp- 
lings from horses, while on more than one occasion 
the doctor had had to deal with terrible injuries, the 
results of gorings from fierce bulls. 

Meanwhile the rest of the band leaped lightly from 
their ponies, and, paying not the slightest heed to the 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


‘29 


■white party, proceeded to gather wood and brush to 
make themselves a fire, some unpacking buffalo meat, 
and one bringing forward a portion of a pronghorn 
antelope. 

The doctor was now busily examining his patient’s 
arm, cutting away the rough bandages, and laying 
bare a terrible injury. 

He was not long in seeing its extent, and he knew 
that if some necessary steps were not taken at once, 
mortification of the limb would set in and the result 
would be death. 

The Indian’s eyes glittered as he keenly watched 
the doctor’s face. He evidently knew the worst, and 
it was this which had made him seek white help, 
though of course he was not aware how fortunate he 
had been in his haphazard choice. He must have 
been suffering intense pain, but not a nerve quiver- 
ed, not a muscle moved, while, deeply interested, 
Joses came closer, rested his arm upon the top of his 
rifle and looked down . 

“ Why, he’s got an arrow run right up his arm all 
along by the bone, boss,” exclaimed the frontiers- 
man ; “ and he has been trying to pull it out and it’s 
broken in.” 

“Right, Joses,” said the doctor, quietly; “and 
worse than that, the head of the arrow is fixed in the 
bone.” 

“ Ah, I couldn’t tell that,” said Joses coolly. 

“ I wish I could speak his dialect,” continued the 
doctor. “ I shall have to operate severely if his arm 
is to be saved, and I don’t want him or his men to 
pay me my fee with a crack from a tomahawk. 
Maude, my child, I think you had better go.” 

“ If you wish it father, 1 will,” she replied simply ; 
“but I could help you, and I should not be in the 
least afraid.” 

“ Good,” said the doctor, laconically, as he lowered 


30 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


tlie injured arm after bathing it free from the macer- 
ated leaves and bark with which it had been bound 
up. Then, with the Indian’s glittering eyes follow- 
ing every movement, he took from a leather case of 
surgical instruments, all still wonderfully bright and 
kept in a most perfect state, a curious looking pair 
of forceps, with rough handles and a couple of short 
bladed, very keen knives. 

“Now I must try and make him understand what 
I want to do. Give me that piece of stick, Bart, it 
will do to imitate the arrow.” 

Bart handed the piece of wood, which the doctor 
shortened, and then, suiting the action to his words, 
he spoke to the chief. 

“ The arrow entered here,” he said, pointing to a 
wound a little above the Indian’s wrist, “ and pierced 
right up through the muscles, to bury itself in the 
bone just here.” 

As he spoke, he pushed the stick up outside the 
arm along the course that the arrow had taken, and 
holding the end about where he considered the head 
of the arrow to be. 

For answer the Indian gave two sharp nods, and 
said something in his own tongue which no one 
understood. 

“ Then,” continued the doctor, “ you or somebody 
else, in trying to extract the arrow, have broken it 
off and it is here in the arm, at least six inches and 
the head.” 

As he spoke, he now broke the stick in two, throw- 
ing away part, and holding the remainder up against 
the Indian’s wounded arm. 

Again the chief nodded, and this time he smiled. 

The doctor then glanced at his savage patient, and 
laying one hand upon the dreadfully swollen limb, 
he received a nod of encouragement, for there was 
no sign of quailing in the chief’s eyes ; but as the 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


31 


doctor approached the point of the knife to a spot 
terribly discolored, just below the elbow, the Indian 
made a sound full of remonstrance, and pointing to 
the wound above the wrist, signed to his attendant 
that he should slit the arm right up. 

“ No, no,” said the doctor, smiling. “ I’m not 
going to make a terrible wound like that. Leave it 
to me.” 

He patted the chief on the shoulder as he spoke, 
and once more the Indian subsided into a state of 
stolidity, as if there were nothing the matter and he 
was not in the slightest pain. 

There was no hesitation. With one quick, firm 
cut, the doctor divided the flesh, piercing deep down, 
and as he cut, his knife gave a sharp grate. 

“ Right on the arrow head, Bart,” he said, quietly ; 
and, withdrawing his knife, he thrust a pair of sharp 
forceps into the wound, and seemed as if he were 
going to drag out the arrow, but it was only to di- 
vide the shaft. This he seized with the other for- 
ceps, and drew out of the bleeding opening — a piece 
nearly five inches long, which came away easily 
enough. 

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he sponged 
the cut for a while, and directly after, guiding them 
with the index finger of his left hand, he thrust the 
forceps once more into the wound. 

There was a slight grating noise once again, a 
noise that Bart, as he manfully held the arm, seemed 
to feel go right through every nerve with a peculiar 
thrill. Then it was evident that the doctor had fast 
hold of the arrow head, and he drew hard to take it 
out. 

“I thought so,” he said, “it is driven firmly into 
the bone.” 

As he spoke, he worked his forceps slightly to and 
fro, to loosen the arrow head, and then, bearing firmly 


32 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


upon it, drew it out — an ugly piece of barbed iron, 
with a scrap of the shaft and some deer sinew at- 
tached. 

The Indian did not move or speak, but sat pa- 
tiently till the deep cut was sewn up, padded wit; 
lint, and bound, and the wound above the wrist, 
where the arrow had entered, Avas also dressed and 
bound up carefully. 

“ There ; now your arm will heal,” said the doctor, 
as he contrived a sling, and placed the injured limb 
at rest. “ A man with such a fine healthy physique 
will not suffer much, I’ll be bound. Hah, it’s quite 
a treat to do some of the old work again.” 

The chief waited patiently until the doctor had 
finished, Then rising, he stood for a few moments 
with knitted brows, perfectly motionless ; and the 
frontiersman, seeing what was the matter, seemed to 
be about to proffer his arm, but the Indian paid no 
heed to him, merely gazing straight before him till 
the feeling of faintness had passed away, when he 
stooped and picked up the piece of arrow shaft and 
the head, walked with them to where his followers 
were sitting, and held them out for them to see. 
Then they were passed round with a series of grunts, 
duly examined, and finally found a resting place in a 
little beaver skin bag at the chiefs girdle, along with 
his paints and one or two pieces of so called “ medi- 
cine ” or charms. 

Meanwhile the doctor was busy putting away his 
instruments, feeling greatly relieved that the en- 
counter with the Indians had been of so friendly a 
nature. 

At the end of a few minutes the chief came back 
with the large buffalo robe that had been strapped 
to the back of his pony, spread it before the doctor, 
placed on it his rifle, tomahawk, knife, and pouch, 
gnd signed to him that they were his as a preset. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


33 


“ He means that it is all he has to give you, sir,” 
said Bart, who seemed to understand the chief’s ways 
quicker than his guardian, and who eagerly set him- 
self to interpret 

“Yes, that seems to he his meaning,” replied the 
doctor. “ Well, let’s see if we can’t make him our 
friend.” 

Saying which the doctor stooped down, picked up 
the knife and hatchet, and placed them in the chief’s 
belt, his rifle in the hollow of his arm, and finally his 
buffalo robe over his shoulders, ending by giving 
him his hand smilingly, and saying the one word 
friend, friend, two or three times over. 

The chief made no reply, but gravely stalked back 
to his followers as if affronted at the refusal of his 
gift, and the day passed with him lying down quietly 
smoking in the sage brush, while the occupants of 
the doctor’s little camp went uneasily about their 
various tasks, ending by dividing the night into 
watches, lest their savage neighbors should take it 
into their heads to depart suddenly with the white 
man’s horses — a favorite practice with Indians, and 
one that in this case would have been destructive of 
the expedition. 


34 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER Y. 

A NEW ALARM. 

To the surprise and satisfaction of Bart, all was 
well in the camp at daybreak when he looked round; 
the horses were grazing contentedly at the end of 
their tether ropes, and the Indians were just stirring, 
and raking together the fire that had been smolder- 
ing all the night. 

Breakfast was prepared, and they were about to 
partake thereof, when the doctor took counsel with 
Joses as to what was best to be done. 

“Do you think they will molest us now?” he 
asked. 

“No, boss, I don’t think so, but there’s no know- 
ing how to take an Indian. I should be very care- 
ful about the horses though, for a good horse is more 
than an Indian can resist.” 

“ I have thought the same ; and it seems to me 
that we had better stay here until this party has 
gone, for I don’t want them to be following us from 
place to place.” 

“ There’s a band of ’em somewhere not far away,” 
said Joses, “ depend upon it. So p’r’aps it will be 
best to wait till we see which way they go, and then 
go t’otherwise.” 

Soon after breakfast the chief came up to the 
wagon and held out his arm to be examined, smiling 
gravely, and looking satisfaction, as it was very plain 
that a great deal of the swelling had subsided. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


35 


This went on for some days, during which the In- 
dians seemed perfectly content with their quarters, 
they having found a better supply of water ; and to 
show their friendliness, they made foraging expedi- 
tions, and brought in game, which they shared in a 
very liberal way. 

This was all very well, but still it was not pleasant 
to have them as neighbors, and several times over 
the doctor made up his mind to start and continue 
his expedition, and this he would have done but for 
the fact of his being sure that their savage friends, 
for this they now seemed to be, w r ould follow them. 

At the end of ten days the chiefs arm had wonder- 
fully altered, the healthy, active life he led condu- 
cing largely towards the cure. But he was always 
quiet and reserved, making no advances, and always 
keeping aloof with his watchful little band. 

“We are wasting time horribly/’ said the doctor, 
one morning. “ Well start at once.” 

“Why not wait till night and steal off?” said 
Maude. 

“ Because we could not hide our trail,” said Bart. 
“The Indians could follow us. I think ’twill be 
best to let them see we don’t mind them, and go 
away boldly.” 

“ That’s what I mean to do,” said the doctor ; and 
directly they had ended their meal the few arrange- 
ments necessary were made, and after going to 
the camp and shaking hands all round with the 
stolid Indians, the horses were mounted, the wagon 
set in motion, and they rode back along the valley. 
Passing the Indian camp, they arrived at the open- 
ing through which, bearing off to the west, the In- 
dians reached the plains, and for hours kept on wind- 
ing in and out amongst the hills. 

It was after sundown that the doctor called a halt, 
ja short rest in the very heat of the day being th§ 


36 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


only break which they had had in their journey. In 
fact, as darkness would soon be upon them, it would 
have been madness to proceed farther, the country 
having become so broken and wild that it would 
have been next to impossible to proceed without 
wrecking the wagon. 

Their usual precautions were taken as soon as a 
satisfactory nook was found with a fair supply of 
water, and soon after sunrise next morning, all hav- 
ing been well during the night, the doctor and Bart 
started for a look round while breakfast was being 
prepared, Bart taking his rifle, as there was always 
the necessity for supplying the wants of the camp. 

“ I wonder whether we shall see any more of the 
Indians,” said Bart, as they climbed up amongst the 
rocks to what looked almost like a gateway formed 
by a couple of boldly scarped masses, in whose strata 
lines various plants and shrubs maintained a precar- 
ious existence. 

“ I wonder they have not followed us before now,” 
replied the doctor. “ Mind how you come. Can you 
climb it?” 

For answer, Bart leapt up to where the doctor had 
clambered, as easily as a mountain sheep. After a 
little further effort they left the level, changeless 
plain on the other side of the rocks, and the sight of 
a fresh character of country was sufficient to make 
the doctor eagerly take the little telescope he carried 
in a sling, and begin to sweep the horizon. 

As he did so he let fall words about the beauty of 
the country. 

“ Splendid grazing land,” he said, “ well watered. 
AVe must have a stay here.” Then lowering his glass 
so as to take the landscape closer in, he uttered an 
ejaculation of astonishment. 

“ AVhy, Bart,” he said, “I’m afraid here are the In- 
dians Joses saw that night.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


37 


“ Let me look, sir,” cried Bart, stretching out his 
hand for the glass, but only to exclaim, “ I can see 
them plainly enough without. Why, they cannot be 
much more than a mile away.” 

“ And they seem to be journeying in our direc- 
tion,” replied the doctor. “ Let’s get back quickly, 
and try if we cannot find another hiding place for 
the wagon.” 

Hurrying back, Bart started the idea that these 
might be the main body of their friendly Indians. 

“ So much the better for us, Master Bart, but I’m 
afraid that we shall not be so lucky again.” 

“ I half fancied I saw our chief among them,” said 
Bart, giving vent to his sanguine feelings. 

“ More than half fancy, Bart,” replied the doctor, 
“for there he sits upon his horse.” 

He pointed with his glass, and, to Bart’s astonish- 
ment, there, in the little wilderness of rocks that they 
had made their halting place for the night, was the 
chief with his eleven followers, who were already 
tethering their horses, and making arrangements to 
take up their quarters close by them as of old. 

“Do you think they mean to continue friendly? ” 
asked Bart, uneasily, for he could not help thinking 
how thoroughly they were at the mercy of the In- 
dians if they proved hostile, 

“ I cannot say,” replied the doctor. “ But look 
here, Bart, take the chief up to the gap and show him 
the party beyond. His men may not have seen them, 
and we shall learn, perhaps, whether they are friends 
or foes.” 

On reaching the wagon, as no attempt was made 
by the Indians to join them or resume intercourse, 
Bart went straight up to the chief and made signs to 
him to follow, which he proceeded to do upon his 
horse, but upon Bart pointing upward to the rocky 
&scent ? he leaped off lightly, and the youth noticed 


38 


IN THE WJLDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


that he was beginning to make use of his injured 
arm. 

In a short time they had climbed to the opening 
between the rocks, where, upon seeing that there 
was open country beyond, the Indian at once crouched 
and approached cautiously, dropping flat upon the 
earth the next moment, and crawling over the 
ground with a rapidity that astonished his compan- 
ion, who was watching his face directly after, to try 
and read therefrom whether he belonged to the band 
of Indians in the open park in the land beyond. 

To Barts surprise, the chief drew back quickly, 
his face changed, and his whole figure seemed to be 
full of excitement. 

He said a few words rapidly, and then, seeing that 
he was not understood, he began to make signs, 
pointing first to the opening out into the plain, and 
then taking out his knife and striking with it 
fiercely. Then he pointed once mors to the open- 
ing, and to his wounded arm, going through the 
motions of one drawing a bow. 

“Friends, friends, friends,” he then said, in a 
hoarse whisper, repeating the doctor’s word, and 
then shaking his head and spitting angrily upon the 
ground, and striking with his knife. 

He then signed to Bart to follow, and ran down 
the deep slope just as one of his followers cantered 
hastily up. 

Both had the same news to tell in the little camp, 
and though the doctor could not comprehend the 
Indian chief’s dialect, his motions were significant 
enough, as he rapidly touched the barrels of his fol- 
lowers’ rifles, and those of the white party, repeating 
the word “Friends.” 

The next moment he had given orders, which sent 
a couple of his men up the rocks to play the part of 
scouts, while he hurriedly scanned their position, 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


39 


and chose a sheltered place, a couple of hundred 
yards back, where there was ample room for the 
horses and wagon, which were quietly taken there, 
the rocks and masses of stone around affording 
shelter and cover in case of attack. 

“ There’s no doubt about these fellows being 
friends now, Bart,” said the doctor ; “we must trust 
them for the future, but I pray Heaven that we may 
not be about to engage in shedding blood.” 

Just then the Indian held up his hand to command 
silence, and directly after, he pointed to places here 
and there that would command good views of ap- 
proaching foes, while he angrily pointed to Maude, 
signing that she should crouch down closely behind 
some sheltering rocks. 

The doctor yielded to his wishes, and then, in per- 
fect silence, they waited for the coming of the Indian 
band, which, if the trail were noted, they knew could 
not be long delayed. 

If Bart had felt any doubt before of these Indians 
with them being friendly, it was swept away now by 
the thorough earnestness with which they joined in 
the defense of their little stronghold. On either 
side of him were the stern looking warriors, rifle in 
hand, watchful of eye, and quick of ear, each listen- 
ing attentively for danger while waiting for warn- 
ings from the scouts who had been sent out. 

As Bart thought over their position and its dan- 
gers, he grew troubled at heart about Maude, the 
sister and companion as she had always seemed to 
him, and somehow, much as he looked up to Dr. 
Lascelles, who seemed to him the very height of 
knowledge, strength and skill, it filled his mind with 
forebodings of the future, as he wondered how they 
were to continue their expedition to the end without 
happening upon some terrible calamity. 

“ Maude ought to have been left with friends, or 


40 


lN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


sent to the city. It seems to me like madness to 
have brought her here.” 

Just then Dr. Lascelles crept up cautiously behind 
him, making him start and turn scarlet as a hand 
was laid upon his shoulder ; for it seemed to him 
that the doctor had been able to read his thoughts. 

“ Why, Bart,” he said, smiling, “ you look as red 
as fire ; you ought to look as pale as milk. Do you 
want to begin the fight? ” 

“ No,” said Bart, sturdily ; “ I hope we shan’t have 
to fight at all.” 

“ Why have you left your post ? ” said the doctor, 
looking at Joses, sternly. 

“ Came to say, boss, that I think young miss aren’t 
safe. She will keep showing herself, and watching 
to see if you are all right, and that’ll make the In- 
dians, if they come, all aim at her.” 

“ You are light, Joses,” said the doctor, hastily ; 
and he went softly back to the wagon, while Joses 
went on in a grumbling whisper: 

“ I don’t know what he wanted to bring her for. 
Course we all like her, Master Bart, but it scares me 
when I think what it might lead to if we get hard 
pressed some of these days.” 

“Don’t croak, Joses,” whispered Bart ; and then 
they were both silent and remained watching, for the 
chief held up his hand, pointing towards the rocks 
beyond, which they knew that their enemies were 
passing, and whose tops they scanned, lest at any 
moment some of the painted warriors might appear 
searching the horizon with their keen, dark eyes. 

The hours passed, and the rocks around them grew 
painfully heated by the ardent rays that beat down 
upon them. Not a breath of air reached the corner 
where such nnxious guard was kept ; and to add to 
the discomfort of the watchers, a terrible thirst at- 
tacked them. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


41 


Bart’s lips seemed cracking andkis throat parched 
and burning, but this was all borne in fortitude ; and 
as he saw the Indians on either side of him bearing 
the inconveniences without a murmur, he forebore 
to complain. 

Towards midday, when the heat was tremendous, 
and Bart was wondering why the chief or Dr. Las- 
celles did not make some movement to see wnether 
the strange Indians had gone, and at the same time 
was ready to declare to himself that the men sent out 
as scouts must have gone to sleep, he felt a couple 
of hands placed on his shoulders, and then the long 
brown sinewy arm of the chief was thrust forward, 
with the hand pointing to the edge of the ridge a 
quarter of a mile away. 

Following the indicated direction, Bart saw plainly 
enough first the head and shoulders of an Indian 
come into sight, then there was apparently a scramble 
and a leap, and he could see that the man was 
mounted. And then followed another and another, 
till there was a group of half a dozen mounted men, 
who had ridden up some ravine to the top from the 
plain beyond, and who were now searching and 
scanning the valley where the encampment lay. 

Now was the crucial time. The neigh of a horse, 
the sight of an uncautiously exposed head or hand, 
would have been sufficient to betray their where- 
abouts, and sooner or later the attack would have 
come 

But now it was that the clever strategy of the 
chief was seen, for he had chosen their retreat not 
merely for its strength, but for its concealment. 

Bart glanced back towards the wagon, and won- 
dered how it was that this prominent object had not 
been seen. Fortunately, however, its tilt was of the 
color of the surrounding rocks, and it was pretty 
well hidden behind some projecting masses. 


42 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


For quite a quarter of au hour this group of 
mounted Indians remained full in view, and all the 
time Bart’s sensations were that he must be seen as 
plainly as he could see his foes; but at last he saw 
them slowly disappear one by one over the other 
side of the ridge; and as soon as the last had gone 
the chief uttered a deep “Ugh!” 

There was danger though 3 r et, and he would not 
let a man stir till quite half an hour later, when his 
two scouts came in quickly, and said a few words in 
a low guttural tone. 

“I should be for learning the language of these 
men if we were to stay with them, Bart,” said the 
doctor; “but they may leave us at any time, and the 
next party we meet may talk a different dialect.” 

The chiefs acts were sufficient now to satisfy them 
that the present danger had passed, and soon after 
he and his. men mounted and rode off without a 
word. 


IN THE WILDb OF NEW MEXICO. 


43 


CHAPTER YI. 

A FIERCE FOE. 

There was nothing to tempt a stay where the 
travelers were, so, taking advantage of their being 
once more alone, a fresh start was made along the 
most open course that presented itself, and some 
miles were placed between them and the last camp 
before a halt was made for the night. 

“ We shan’t do no good, Master Bart,” said Joses, 
as the two kept watch for the first part of the night. 
“ The boss thinks we shall, but I don’t, and Juan 
don’t, and Sam and Harry don’t.” 

“ But why not ? ” 

“ Why not, Master Bart ? How can you ’spect it 
when you’ve got a young woman and a wagon and a 
tent along with you ? Them’s all three things as 
stop you from getting over the ground.” 

“You always would grumble, Joses; no matter 
where you were, or what we were doing, you would 
have your grumble. I suppose it does you good.” 

“ Why, of course it does,” said Joses, with a low 
chuckling laugh. “ If I wasn’t to grumble, that 
would all be in my mind making me sour, so I gets 
rid of it as soon as I can.” 

That night passed without adventure, and, starting 
at daybreak the next morning, they found a fine 
open stretch of plain before them, beyond which, 
blue and purple in the distance, rose the mountains; 


44 IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 

and these were looked upon as their destination, for 
Dr. Lascelles was of the opinion that he might dis- 
cover something to reward his toils. 

The day was so hot and the journey so arduous* 
that upon getting to the farther side of the plain, 
with the ground growing terribly broken and rug- 
ged as they approached the mountain slopes, a suit- 
able spot was selected, the tent was set up, and the 
quarters made snug for two or three days’ rest. 

The place reached was very rugged, but it had an 
indescribable charm from the varied tints of the 
rocks and the clumps of bushes, with here and there 
a low scrubby tree, some of which proved to be laden 
with wild plums. 

“Why, those are wild grapes, too, are they not?” 
said Bart, pointing to some clustering vines which 
hung over the rock, laden with purpling berries. 

“That they be,” said Joses, “and as sour as sour, 
I'll bet. But say, Master Bart, hear that ?” 

“What? That piping noise?” replied Bart. “I 
was wondering what it could be !” 

“ I’ll tell you, my lad,” said Joses, chuckling. 
“ That’s young wild turkeys calling to one another, 
and if we don’t have a few to roast it shan’t be our 
fault.” 

The doctor was told of the find, and after all was 
made snug it was resolved to take guns and rifles 
and search for something likely to prove an agree- 
able change. 

The heat of the evening, and the exertion of the 
long day’s journey, made the party rather reluctant 
to stir after their meal; but at last guns were taken, 
and in the hope of securing a few of the wild tur- 
keys a start was made. But after a stroll in differ- 
ent directions, Joses began to shake his head, and to 
say that it would be no use till daybreak, for the 
turkeys had gone to roost. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


45 


The doctor proposed that they should return to the 
tent. Signals were made to the men at a distance, 
and they had nearly reached the tent, when about a 
hundred yards of the roughest ground had to be 
traversed, where, among mighty bowlders, awkward 
thorns, huge prickly cacti, and wild plums grew in 
profusion, 

“ Hough — hough — hough !” came from beyond a 
rugged piece of rock. 

“ Oh, father !” cried Maude, clinging to his arm. 

“Don’t hold me, child,” he said fiercely; “leave 
my arm free;” and starting forward, gun in hand, 
he made for the place from whence the hideous, half 
roaring, half grunting noise had come. 

Before he had gone a dozen steps the sound was 
repeated, but away to their right. Then came the 
sharp reports of two guns, and, evidently seeing 
something hidden from her father and Bart, Maude 
sprang forward, while they followed. 

“Don’t go, missy, don’t go,” shouted Juan, and his 
cry was echoed by Harry; but she did not seem to 
hear them, and was the first to arrive at where a 
huge bear lay upon its flank, feebly clawing at the 
rock with fore and hind paws, it having received a 
couple of shots in vital parts. 

“ Pray keep back, Maude,” cried Bart, running to 
her side 

“ I wanted to see it,” she said, with an eager glance 
around at her father, who came up rapidly. “ What 
is it ?” 

“ It’s the half grown cub of a grizzly bear,” said 
Dr. Laseelles, speaking excitedly now. “ Back, girl, 
to the tent; the mother must be close at hand.” 

Just then the deep hoarse grunting roar came 
again from a hollow down beyond them. Directly 
after, as they hurried forward, they heard a shot and 
came in sight of Joses, with his rifle to his shoulder, 


46 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO. 


taking aim at a monstrous bear that, apparently half 
disabled by his last shot, was just turning upon him 
to make a dash and strike him down. 

Just then a second shot rang out, and the bear 
rolled over, but sprang to her feet again with a ter- 
rific roar, and dashed at her assailants. 

It was impossible to fire now lest Joses should be 
hit; and though he turned and fled, he was too late, 
for the bear, in spite of its huge, ox-like size, sprang 
upon him, striking him down, and stood over him. 

But now was the time, and the doctor’s and Bart’s 
rifles both rang out, the latter going down on one 
knee to take careful aim; and as the smoke cleared 
away the bear was gone. 

“ She’s made for those rocks yonder,” cried Juan 
excitedly. “ We’ll have her yet, boss. She didn’t 
seem hurt a bit.” 

Bart ran with his rifle at the trail over the rocks, 
and was guided by the savage growling he could 
hear amidst some bushes to where the monster was 
at bay. 

It was fast approaching the moment when all would 
be in gloom, and Bart knew that it would be impos- 
sible for them to camp where they were with a 
wounded grizzly anywhere near at hand. Slain the 
monster must be, and at once; but though the growl- 
ing was plain enough, the bear was not visible, and 
ammunition is too costly out in the desert for a single 
charge to be wasted by a foolish shot. 

Juan, Harry and Sam were all in position ready to 
fire, but still the animal did not show itself, so they 
went closer to the thicket and threw in heavy stones, 
but without effect, till Juan exclaimed that he would 
go right in and drive the brute out. 

Bart forbade this, however, and the man content- 
ed himself with going a little closer, and throwing 
in a heavy block. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


47 


A savage grunt was the result, and judgingwhere 
the grizzly lay, Juan, without waiting for counsel, 
raised his rifle and fired. The shot was succeeded 
by a savage yell, and the monster came crashing out 
in a headlong charge, making straight for Bart, 
open mouthed, fiery eyed, and panting for revenge. 

Bart’s first instinct was to turn and run, his second 
to stand his ground and fire right at the monster, 
taking deadly aim. 

But in a moment of peril like his there is little 
time for the exercise of judgment. Ere he could 
reach his rifle to his shoulder and take careful aim 
the bear was upon him, rising up on his hind legs, 
not to hug him, as is generally supposed to be the 
habit of these beasts, but to strike at him right and 
left with its hideously armed paws. 

Bart did not know how it happened, but as the 
beast towered up in its huge proportions, he fired 
rapidly both barrels of his piece, one loaded with 
heavy shots for the turkeys, the other with ball, 
right into the monster’s chest. 

As he fired Bart leaped back, and it was well that 
he did so, for the grizzly fell forward with a heavy 
thud, almost where he had been standing, clawed 
at the rocks and stones for a few moments, and then 
lay perfectly still — dead. 

The three men uttered a loud, cheer, and ran and 
leaped upon their fallen enemy, but Bart ran back, 
loading his piece as he ran, to where he had left the 
doctor with poor Joses. 

Bart felt his heart beat heavily, and there was a 
strange choking feeling of pain at his throat as he 
thought of rough, surly spoken Joses, the man who 
had been his guide and companion in many a hunt 
and search for the straying cattle; and now it seemed 
to him that he was to lose one who he felt had been 
a friend. 


48 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“ Is he ” 

Bart panted out this much, and then stopped in 
amazement, for, as he turned the corner of some 
rocks that lay between him and the tent, instead of 
addressing the doctor he found himself face to face 
with Joses, who, according to Bart’s ideas, should 
have been lying upon the stones, hideously clawed 
from shoulder to heel by the monster’s terrible 
hooks. On the contrary, the rough fellow was sit- 
ting up with his back close to a great block of stone, 
his rifle across his knees, and both hands busily roll- 
ing up a little cigarette. 

“Why, Joses,” panted Bart, “I thought ” 

“As I was killed? Well I ain’t,” said Joses, 
roughly. 

“But the b£ar — she struck you down — I saw her 
claw you.” 

“You see her strike me down,” growled Joses; 
“ but she didn’t claw me, my lad. She didn’t hit out 
far enough, but she’s torn every rag off my back 
right into ribbons, and I’m waiting here till the doc- 
tor brings me something else and my blanket to 
wear.” 

“Oh, Joses, I am glad,” cried Bart, hoarsely; and 
his voice was full of emotion as he spoke, while he 
caught the rough fellow’s hand in his. 

“ Don’t spoil a fellow’s cigarette,” growled Joses, 
roughly, but his eyes showed the pleasure he felt. 
“ But you’ve killed the bear among you ?” 

“Yes; she’s dead enough.” 

“That’s well. Who fired the shot as finished 
her ? Don’t say you let Juan or Sam, or I won’t for- 
give you.” 

“ I fired the last, and brought her down,” said 
Bart quietly enough. 

“That’s right,” said Joses; “that’s right. You 
ought to be a good shot now,” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


49 


“ But are you not hurt at all ?” asked Bart. 

“ Well, I can’t say as I arn’t hurt,” replied Joses, 
“because she knocked all the wind out of me as she 
sent me down so quickly, and she scratched a few 
bits of skin off as well as my clothes, but that don’t 
matter; skin grows again, clothes don’t. Humph ! 
here comes the doctor with the things.” 

“ A narrow escape for him, Bart. But how about 
the grizzly ?” 

“ Dead, sir; quite dead,” replied Bart. 

“ Now, Joses, let me dress your back.” 

“No, thank ye, mister; I can dress myself, bless 
you !” 

“No, no; I mean apply some of this dressing to 
those terrible scratches.” 

Joses obeyed, and Bart shuddered as he saw the 
scores made by the monster's hideous claws, though 
Joses took it all quietly enough, and after the dress- 
ing threw his blanket over his shoulders, to walk 
with his master and Bart to have a look at the 
grizzly. 

It was a monster indeed, being quite nine feet 
long, and massive in proportion, while its great 
sharp curved claws were some of them nearly six 
inches from point to insertion in the shaggy toes. 

Such a skin was too precious as a trophy to be 
left, and before daylight next morning Juan, Harry, 
and Sam were at work stripping it off; Bart, when 
he came soon after, finding them well on with their 
task; Joses being seated uj:>on a fragment of rock 
contentedly smoking and giving instructions, he be- 
ing an adept at such matters. 

Joses was so sore that for some days he could not 
mount his horse, and spent his time in drying the 
two bearskins in the sun, and dressing them on the 
fleshy side, till they were quite soft, and made capi- 
tal mats for the wagon. 


50 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER VII. 

SEARCHING FOR GOLD. 

One morning Joses expressed himself as being all 
right, and whatever pains he felt he would not show 
the slightest sign, but mounted his horse, and would 
have gone forward, only the doctor decided to spend 
another day where they were, so as to more fully ex- 
amine the rocks, for he fancied that he had discov- 
ered a metallic deposit in one spot on the previous 
night. 

It was settled, then, that the horses should go on 
grazing in the little meadow-like spot beside a tiny 
stream close by the wagon, and that the doctor, 
Juan, Joses, and Bart should explore the ravine 
where the doctor thought he had found traces of 
gold, while Sam and Harry kept watch by the camp. 

After a few hours’ walk, the doctor halted by the 
bed of a tiny stream, and after searching about in 
the sands for a time he hit upon a likely place, took 
a small portion of the sand in a shallow tin bowl, 
and began to wash it, changing the water over and 
over again, and throwing away the lighter sand, till 
nothing was left but a small portion of coarser frag- 
ments. Upon these being turned out in the bright 
sunshine and examined, there were certainly a few 
specks of gold to be seen, but so minute that the 
doctor threw them away with a sigh. 

“ We must have something more promising than 
that,” he said. “Now I think, Bart, you and Joses 



THE GROUP AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. — See page 5. 

























IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


63 


had better go along that ridge of broken rock close 
up to the hills and walk eastward for a few miles to 
explore. I will go with Juan to the west. Perhaps 
we shall find a likely place for going right up into 
the mountains. We’ll meet here again at say two 
hours before sundown.” 

They parted, and for the next two hours Bart and 
Joses journeyed along under what was for the most 
part a wall of rock fringed at the top with verdure, 
and broken up into chasms and crevices, which 
were filled with plants of familiar or strange 
growths. 

Sometimes they started a serpent, and once they 
came upon a little herd of antelopes, but they were 
not in search of game, and they let the agile creat- 
ures go unmolested. 

The heat was growing terrific beneath the shel- 
tered rock wall, and at last, weakened by his en- 
counter with the bear, Joses began to show signs of 
distress. 

“ I’d give something for a good drink of water,” 
he said. “I’ve been longing this hour past, and I 
can’t understand how it is that we haven’t come 
upon a stream running out into the plain. There 
arn’t been no chance of the wagon going up into the 
mountains this way.” 

“ Shall we turn back ?” 

“ Turn back ? No ! not if we have to go right 
round the whole world,” growled Joses. “ Come 
along, my lad, we’ll find a spring somewheres.” 

For another hour they tramped onward in silence, 
and all at once came a musical plashing sound, that 
made Joses draw himself up erect and say with a 
smile: 

“There’s always water if you go on long enough, 
my lad. That there’s a fall.” 

And so it proved to be, and one of extreme beauty, 


54 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


for a couple of hundred yards farther thej r came 
upon a nook in the rough wall, where the water of a 
small stream came pouring swiftly down, all foam 
and sparkle. Pulling a cow horn from his pocket, 
Joses walked closely up and caught the pure cold 
fluid as it fell. 

“ There, Master Bart,” he said, filling and rinsing 
out the horn two or three times, “there you are. 
Drink, my lad, for you want it bad, as I can see.” 

“No, you drink first, Joses,” said the lad; but the 
frontiersman refused, and it was not until Bart had 
emptied the horn of what seemed to be the most de- 
licious water he had ever tasted, that Joses could fill 
and drink. 

When he did begin, however, it seemed as if he 
would never leave off, for he kept on pouring down 
horn after horn, and smacking his lips with satisfac- 
tion. 

“Ah, my lad !” he exclaimed at last. “ I’ve drunk 
pretty nearly everything in my time, but there isn’t 
anything as comes up anywhere like a horn of spark- 
ling water like that when you are parched and burnt 
up with thirst.” 

“It is delicious, Joses,” said Bart; “ but now had 
we not better go back?” 

“ Yes, if we mean to be to our time, but suppose 
we go a little lower down there into the plain, and 
try if there’s anything like what the boss is hunting 
for in the sand.” 

They went down for about a quarter of a mile to 
where there was a smooth sandy beach, and a cup 
being produced, they set to and washed several lots 
of sand, in each case finding a few specks, but noth- 
ing more. At last they gave it up, when Joses 
pointed to some footprints in the soil, where there 
was evidently a drinking place made by deer. 

“What are those?” said Bart; “panthers ?” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 55 

“ Painters they are, my lad, and I dare say we 
could shoot one if we had time. Make a splendid 
skin for little miss.” 

As time was getting on, they sturdily set them- 
selves to their backward journey, Joses praising the 
water nearly all the way, when he was not telling of 
some encounter he had had with Indian or savage 
beast in his earlier days. 

“ Do you think we shall see any more of the In- 
dians, Joses ?” said Bart, at last. 

“ What, Old Arrow-in-the-arm ?” 

“ Yes.” 

“Sure to,” said Joses. “He’s a good fellow, that 
is. ’Tain’t an Indian’s nature to show that lie’s fond 
of you, but that chap would fight for the boss to the 
last.” 

“ It seemed like it the other day, but it was very 
strange that he should go off as he did.” 

“ Not it, my lad. He’s gone to watch them Injuns, 
safe.” 

“Then he will think us ungrateful for going 
away.” 

“ Not he. Depend upon it he’ll turn up one of 
these days just when we don’t expect it, and sit down 
just as if nothing had happened.” 

“ But will he find our trial over such stony 
ground ?” 

“ Find it ? Ay, of course he will, and before you 
know where you are.” 

They trudged on in silence now, for both were 
growing tired; but just about the time appointed 
they came within sight of their starting place, the 
doctor meeting them a few minutes later. 

“ What luck ?” he asked. 

“Nothing but a glorious spring of water, and a 
stream with some specks of gold in the washing.” 

“I have done little better, Bart; but there is a 


56 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


valley yonder that leads up into the mountains, and 
with care I think we can get the wagon along with- 
out much difficulty.” 

An early start was made next morning, and fol- 
lowing the course mapped out by the doctor, they 
soon reached an opening in the hills, up which they 
turned, to find in the hollow a thread-like stream. 
As they proceeded, the mountains began to open 
out before them higher and higher, till they seemed 
to close in the horizon like clouds of delicate ame- 
thystine blue. 

It seemed as if they must return, but somehow 
the wagon and horses were got over the obstacles, 
and a short level cheered them on to fresh exertions, 
while, as they slowly climbed higher, there vas the 
satisfaction of knowing that there was less likeli- 
hood of molestations from Indians, the dangerous 
tribes of the plains, Comanches and Apaches, rarely 
taking their horses up among the rugged portions 
of the hills. 

Maude, in her girlish freshness of heart, was de- 
lighted with the variety of scenery, while to Bart all 
was excitement. Even the labor to extricate the 
wagon from some rift, or to help to drag it up some 
tremendous slope, was enjoyable. 

Then there were little excursions to make down 
moist ravines, where an antelope might be bagged 
for the larder; or up to some dry looking flat, shut 
in by the hills, where grouse might be put up 
amongst the sage brush and other thin growth, for 
six hard working men consume a great deal of food, 
and the stores in the wagon had to be saved as much 
as possible. 

Today Bart and Joses were out “ after the pot,” as 
the latter called it, and on this occasion they had 
been very unfortunate. 

“ I tell you what it is,” said Joses, at last, “ we 


IN TEE WILES OE NEW MEXICO. 


57 


fehali have to go lower down. The boss won’t 
never find no gold and silver up here, and food ’ll 
get scarcer and scarcer, unless we come upon a flock 
of sheep.” 

“ A flock of sheep up here ?” said Bart, incredu- 
lously. 

“ Mountain sheep, my lad, with great horns twisted 
round so long and thick you get wondering how the 
sheep can carry ’em, and — there, look !” 

He caught Bart by the shoulder and pointed to a 
tremendous slope, a quarter of a mile away, where, 
in the clear pure air the lad could see a flock of 
about twenty sheep evidently watching them. 

“'They’re the sliest, artfulest things as ever was,” 
whispered Joses. “ Down softly, and let’s back 
again; we must circumvent them, and get behind 
’em for a shot.” 

“ Too late,” said Bart, and he was right, for sud- 
denly the whole herd went off at a tremendous pace 
along a slope that seemed to be quite a precipice, 
and the next moment they were gone. 

“ That’s up for today,” said Joses, shouldering his 
rifle. “We may go back and try and pick up a bird 
or two. Tomorrow we’ll come along, and p’r’aps get 
a shot at the sheep, as we know they are here.” 

They were fortunate enough to shoot a few grouse 
on their way back, and next morning at daybreak 
Bart and the four men started after the sheep, the 
doctor preferring to stay by the wagon and examine 
some of the rocks. 

As the party climbed upwards towards the slope 
where the sheep had been seen on the previous day, 
Joses was full of stories about the sly nature of 
these animals. 

“They’ll lead you right away into the wildest 
places,” he said, “ and then, when you think you’ve 
got them, they go over some steep cut, and you 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


5 $ 

never see ’em again. Some people say they jump 
head first down on the rocks, and lets themselves 
fall on their horns, which is made big on purpose, 
and then bounces up again, but I don’t believe it, 
for if they did they’d break their necks. All the 
same, though, they do jump down some wonderful 
steep places and run up others that look like walls. 
Here, what’s Sam making signals for ? Go softly.” 

They crept up to their companion, and found that 
he had sighted a flock of eleven sheep on a slope 
quite a couple of miles away. But for the assurance 
of Joses that it was all right, and that they were 
sheep, Bart would have said it was a patch of light 
color on the mountain. 

As they approached cautiously, however, trying 
to stalk the timid creatures, Bart found that his men 
were right, and they spent the next two hours in 
cautious approach, till they saw that the sheep took 
alarm and rushed up to the top of the slope, disap- 
peared for a moment, and then came back, to stand 
staring down on their advancing enemies. 

“ It’s all right,” exclaimed Joses; “ we can get the 
lot if we like, for they can’t get away. Yonder’s a 
regular dip down which they can’t jump. Keep 
your rifles ready, my boys, and we’ll shoot two. 
That’ll be enough.” 

As they spread out and slowly advanced, the 
sheep ran back out of sight, but came back again, 
proving Joses’s words, that there was a precipice 
beyond them and their enemies in front. 

Four times over, as the hunting party advanced, 
did the sheep perform this evolution, but the last 
time they did not come back into sight. 

“ They’re away hiding down among the bushes,” 
said Joses. “Be ready. Now, then, close in. You 
keep in the middle here, Master Bart, and have the 
first shot. Pick a good fat one.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


59 


“ Yes,” panted Bart, wlio was out of breath with 
the climbing. To rest him Joses called a halt, keep- 
ing a sharp lookout the while to right and left. 

At the end of a few minutes they toiled up the 
slope once more, Joses uttering a few words of warn- 
ing to his young companion. 

“Don’t rush when you get to the top, for it slopes 
down there, with a big wall going down beyond, and 
you mightn’t be able to stop yourself. Keep cool, 
we shall see them together directly.” 

But they did not see the sheep cowering together 
as they expected, for though the top of the moun- 
tain was just as Joses had described, sloping down 
after they had passed the summit, and then going 
down abruptly in an awful precipice, no sheep were 
to be seen. After making sure that none were hid- 
den, the men passed on cautiously to the edge, Bart 
being a little way behind, forcing his way through 
some thick bushes. 

Just then a cry from Joses made him hurry to the 
edge, but he was too late to see what three of them 
witnessed, and that was the leap of a magnificent 
ram, which had been standing upon a ledge ten feet 
below them, and which, as soon as it heard the 
bushes above its head parted, made a tremendous 
spring as if into- space, but landed on another ledge, 
fifty feet below, to take off once more for another 
leap right out of sight. 

“ We must go back and round into the valley,” 
said Juan. “We shall find them all with their necks 
broken.” 

“ You’ll be clever if you do,” said Joses, in a sav- 
age growl. “They’ve gone on jumping down like 
that right to the bottom, Master Bart, and ” 

“ Is that the flock ?” said Bart, pointing to where a 
similar wall of rock rose up from what seemed to be 
part of a great canyon, 


60 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“ That’s them,” said Joses, counting, “ eight, nine, 
ten, eleven, and all as fresh as if they’d never made 
a jump. There, I’ll believe anything of ’em after 
that.” 

“Why, it makes one sliudder to look down,” said 
Bart, shrinking back. 

“Shudder!” said Joses, “I’d have starved a thou- 
sand times before I’d have made a jump like that. 
No mutton for dinner today, boys. Let’s get some 
birds.” 

And very disconsolately and birdless they made 
their way back to the camp. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


61 


CHAPTER VIII. 

ON THE EDGE. 

Bart was sufficiently observant to notice even 
amidst the many calls he had upon his attention, 
that Dr. Lascelles grew more and more absorbed 
and dreamy every day. When they first started he 
was always on the alert about the management of 
the expedition, the proportioning of the supplies, 
and matters of that kind; but as he found in a short 
time that Bart devoted himself eagerly to everything 
connected with the successful carrying out of their 
progress, that Joses was sternly exacting over the 
other men, and that Maude took ample care of the 
stores, he very soon ceased troubling himself 
about anything but the main object which he had 
in view. 

Hence it was then that he used to sling a sort of 
game bag over his shoulder directly after the early 
morning meal, place a sharp, w’edge-like hammer in 
his belt, shoulder his double rifle, and go off “ rock 
chipping,” as Joses called it. 

“ I don’t see what’s the good of his loading one 
barrel with shot, Master Bart, for he never brings in 
no game; and as for the stones — well, I haven’t seen 
a single likely bit yet.” 

“ Do you think he ever will hit upon a good mine 
of gold or silver, Joses ?” said Bart, as they were out 
hunting one day. 

“ Well, Master Bart, you know what sort of a fel- 
low I am. If I’d got five hundred cows I should 


62 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


never reckon as they’d have live hundred calves next 
year, but just calculate as they wouldn’t have one. 
Then all that come would be so many to the good. 
Looking at it fairty, I don’t want to dishearten you, 
my lad, but speaking from ’sperience, I should say 
he wouldn’t.” 

“ And this will all be labor in vain, Joses ?” 

“ Nay, I don’t say that, Master Bart. He might 
find a big vein of gold or silver; but I never knew 
a man yet who w r ent out in the mountains looking 
for one as did.” 

“ But up northward there, men have discovered 
mines and made themselves enormously rich.” 

“To be sure they have, my lad, but not by going 
and. looking for the gold and silver. It was always 
found by accident, and you and me are much more 
like to come upon a big lead where we’re trying after 
sheep or deer than he is with all his regular trying.” 

Every time they journeve d on the toil became great- 
er, for they were in most inaccessible parts of the 
mountain range, and they knew by the coolness of 
the air that they must now be far above the plains. 

Bart and Joses worked hard to supply the larder, 
the principal food they obtained being the sage 
grouse and dusky grouse, which birds they found 
to be pretty plentiful high up in the mountains 
wherever there was a flat or a slope with plenty of 
cover; but just as they were getting terribly tired of 
the sameness of this 4iet, Bart made one morning a 
lucky find. 

They had reached a fresh halting place after sun- 
down on the previous night — one that was extremely 
attractive from the variety of the high ground, the 
depths of the chasms around, and the beauty of the 
cedars that spread their branches over the mountain 
sides, which were diversified by the presence of end- 
less dense thickets. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


63 


“ It looks like a deer country/’ Joses had said as 
they were tethering* the horses amongst some mag- 
nificent grass. 

These words had haunted Bart the night through, 
and hence, at the first sight of morning, he had taken 
his rifle and gone off to see what he could find. 

Three hours’ tramp produced nothing but a glimpse 
of some mountain sheep far away. 

He was too weary and hungry to think of follow- 
ing them, and was reluctantly making for the camp 
when all at once a magnificent deer sprang up from 
amongst a thicket of young pines, and bounded off 
at an astonishing rate. 

It seemed madness to fire, but, aiming well in 
front, Bart drew trigger, and then leaped aside to 
get free of the smoke. As he did so, he just caught 
a glimpse of the deer as it bounded up a steep slope 
and the next moment it was gone. 

Bart felt that he had not hit it, but curiosity 
prompted him to follow in the animal’s track, in the 
hope of getting a second shot, and as he proceeded 
he could not help wishing for the muscular strength 
of these deer, for the ground, fall of rifts and chasms, 
over which he toiled painfully in a regular climb, the 
deer had bounded over at full speed. 

It took him some time to get to the spot where he 
had last seen the deer, when, to his intense surprise 
and delight, he found traces of blood upon the stones, 
and upon climbing higher, he found his way blocked 
by a chasm. 

Feeling sure that the animal would have cleared 
this at a bound, he lowered himself by holding on 
by a young pine which bent beneath his weight. 
Then he slipped for a few feet, made a leap, and 
came down amongst some bushes, where, lying per- 
fectly dead, was the most beautiful deer he had ever 
seen. 


64 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


Unfortunately hunger and the knowledge that 
others are hungry interfere with romantic admiration, 
and after feasting his eyes, Bart began to feast his 
imagination on the delight of those in the camp with 
the prospect of venison steaks. So, in regular hunt- 
er’s fashion, he proceeded to partly skin and dress 
the deer, cutting off sufficient for their meal, and 
leaving the other parts to be fetched by the men. 

There were rejoicings in camp that morning, and 
soon after breakfast Bart started off once more, tak- 
ing with him Joses, Juan, and Sam, all of whom were 
exceedingly willing to become the bearers of the 
meat of which they stood in such great need. 

The doctor had gone off in another direction, tak- 
ing with him Maude as his companion, and after the 
little party had returned to the camp Bart wa3 
standing thoughtfully gazing at a magnificent emi- 
nence, clothed almost to the top with cedars, while 
in its rifts and ravines were dark foliage pines. 

“ I wonder whether we should find anything up 
there, Joses?” said Bart. 

“Not much,” said the frontiersman. “ There’d be 
deer, I dare say, if the sound of your rifle and the 
coming of the sheep hadn’t sent them away.” 

“ Why should the sheep send them away ?” asked 
Bart. 

“ I don’t know why they should,” said Joses, “ all 
I know is that they do. You never find black tailed 
deer like you shot and mountain sheep living to- 
gether as neighbors; it arn’t their nature.” 

“ Well, what do you say to taking our rifles and 
exploring ?” 

“ Don’t mind,” said Joses, looking round. “ Horses 
are all right, and there’s no fear of being overhauled 
by Injuns up here, so let’s go and take Sam with us, 
but you won’t get no more deer.” 

They started directly after, and for about tw*o 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


65 


hours did nothing but climb up amidst cedar and 
pine forest. Sometimes amongst the trunks of big 
trees, sometimes down in gashes or gullies in the 
mountain side, which were full of younger growths, 
as if the rich soil and pine seeds had been swept 
there by the storms and then taken root. 

“ I tell you what it is, Master Bart,” said Joses, 
suddenly coming to a halt to roll up and light his 
cigarito , a practice he never gave up, “ it strikes me 
that we’ve nearly got to the end of it.” 

“End of what?” asked Bart. 

“ This clump of hills. You see if when we get to 
the top here, it don’t all go down full swoop like a 
house wall.” 

“ What, like the place where the mountain sheep # 
went down ?” 

“ That’s it, my lad; only without any go up on the 
other side. It strikes me that we shall find it all 
plain on this side, and that if we can’t find a break 
in the wall with a regular gulch, we shall have to 
go back with our horses and wagon and try some 
other way.” 

“Well, come along and let’s see,” said Bart, and 
once more they climbed on for quite half an hour, 
when they emerged from the trees on a rugged piece 
of open rocky plain, with scattered pines gnarled 
and twisted and swept bare by the mighty winds, 
and as far as eye could reach nothing but one vast, 
well watered plain. 

“ Told you so !” said Joses. “Now we shall either 
have to keep up here in the mountain or go down 
among the Injuns again, just as the boss likes.” 

“ Let’s come and sit down near the edge here and 
rest,” said Bart, who was fascinated by the beauty of 
the scene, and, going right out upon a jutting pro- 
montory of stone, they could look to right and left 
at the great wall of rock that spread as far as they 


66 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


could see. In places it seemed to go sheer down to 
the plain, in others it was broken into ledges by slips 
and falls of rocks; but everywhere it seemed to shut 
the great plain in from the west, and Bart fully re- 
alized that they would have to find some great rift 
or gulch by which to descend, if their journey was 
to be continued in this direction. 

“ How far is it to the plain ?” said Bart, after he 
had been feasting his eyes for some time. 

“ Four to five thousand feet,” said Joses. “ Can’t 
tell for certain. Chap would fall a long way before 
he found bottom, and then he’d bounce off, and go 
on again and again. I don’t think the mountain 
sheep would jump here.” 

As they sat there resting and inhaling the fresh 
breeze that blew over the wide spreading plain, Bart 
could not help noticing the remains of a grand old 
pine that had once grown right at the edge of the 
stupendous precipice, but had gradually been storm 
beaten and split in its old age till the trunk and a 
few jagged branches only remained. 

One of these projected from its stunted trunk 
close down by the roots, and seemed thrust out at 
right angles over the precipice in a way that some- 
how seemed to tempt Bart. 

He turned his eyes from it again and again, but 
that branch fascinated him, and he found himself 
considering how dangerous it would be, and yet how 
delightful, to climb right out on that branch till it 
bent and bent, and would bear him no further, and 
then sitting astride, dance up and down in mid air, 
right over the awful depths below. 

So strange was the attraction that Bart found his 
hands wet with perspiration, and a peculiar feeling 
of horror attacked him; but what was more strange, 
the desire to risk his life kept growing upon him, 
$ixd as he afterwards told himself, he would no doubt 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


G7 


have made the mad venture if something had not 
happened to take his attention. 

Joses was leaning back with half closed eyes and 
Bart was rising to his knees to go back and round 
to where the branch projected, just to try it, he told 
himself, when they heard a shout away to the left, 
and that shout acted like magic upon Bart. 

“ Why, that’s Sam,” he said, drawing a breath full 
of relief, just as if he had awakened from some ter- 
rible nightmare. 

“I’d ’bout forgotten him,” said Joses, lazily. 
“ Ahoy ! Oho ! — eh !” he shouted back. 

Then there was another shout and a rustling of 
bushes, a grunting noise, and Bart seized his rifle. 

“ He has found game,” he said. 

Then he nearly let fall his piece, and knelt there 
as if turned to stone, for, to his horror, he suddenly 
saw Sam down on his hands and knees, crawling 
straight out on the great gnarled branch that over- 
hung the precipice, keeping to this mode of pro- 
gression for a time, and then letting his legs go 
down one on each side of the branch, and hitching 
himself along, yelling lustily the while for help. 

“ He has gone mad,” cried Bart, and as he spoke 
he thought of his own sensations a few minutes 
before, and how he had felt tempted to do this very 
thing. 

“ No, he ain’t,” said Joses, lifting his rifle; “he’s 
got bears after him.” 

Almost as he spoke the great, rough, furry body 
of an enormous black bear came into sight, and with- 
out a moment’s hesitation walked right out along 
the branch after the man. 

“ There’s another,” cried Bart; “ shoot, Joses, 
shoot. I dare not.” 

It seemed that Joses dare not either, or else the 
excitement paralyzed him, for he only remained, like 


68 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


Bart, staring stupidly at the scene before them, as a 
second bear followed the first, which, in spite of 
Sam’s efforts to get into safety, had overtaken him, 
and throwing its forepaws around him and the 
branches as well, hugged him fast, while the second 
came close up and stood there growling and grunt- 
ing and patting at its companion, who, fortunately 
for Sam, was drawing the claws at the end of its 
paws deeply into the gnarled branch. 

“If I don’t fire, they’ll kill him,” muttered Joses, 
as the huge branch visibly bent with the weight of 
the three bodies now upon it. “ If I kill him instead 
it would be a mercy, so here goes.” 

He raised his rifle, took careful aim, and was about 
to draw the trigger. Just then the report of Bart’s 
piece rang out, and the second bear raised itself on 
its hind legs, while the foremost backed a couple of 
feet, and stood growling savagely, with its head 
turned towards where it could see the smoke. 

That was Bart’s opportunity. Steadying his rifle 
upon a piece of rock, he fired again, making the fore- 
most bear utter a savage growl, and begin tearing 
furiously at its flank. 

Then Joses’s rifle spoke, and the first bear reared up 
and fell over backwards, a second shot striking the 
hindmost full in the head, and one after the other 
the two monsters fell headlong, the first seeming to 
dive down, making a swimming motion with its 
massive paws. 

They both struck the rock about fifty feet below 
the branch, and this seemed to make them glance off 
and fly through the air at a fearful rate, spinning 
over and over till they struck again at an enormous 
distance below, and then plunged out of sight, leav- 
ing Bart, sick with horror, to gaze upon the unfor- 
tunate Sam clinging to the limb that hung over the 
awful precipice. 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER IX. 

sam’s peril. 

Bart was brought to his senses by Joses, who ex- 
claimed, sharply, “Load, my lad, load! you never 
know when you may want your piece.” 

Bart obeyed mechanically as Joses shouted, “Now, 
then, how long are you going to sit there ?” 

Sam, who was sitting astride the gnarled old 
limb, holding on tightly with both hands, turned 
his head slightly, and then turned it back, staring 
straight down into the awful depths, as if fascinated 
by the scene below. 

“Here! Hi! Don’t sit staring there!” cried 
Joses. “Git back, man !” 

Sam shook his head and seemed to cling the more 
tightly. 

“ Are you hurt, Sam ?” cried Bart. 

Sam shook his head. 

“Why don't you speak?” roared Joses, angrily. 
“ Did the beasts claw you ?” 

Sam shook his head, but otherwise he remained 
motionless, and Bart and Joses went round to where 
the tree clung to the rocky soil, and stood gazing 
out at their companion and within some fifteen feet 
of where he clung. 

“ What’s the matter, Sam ? Why don’t you come 
back ?” asked Bart. 

The man responded with a low groan. 

“ He must be badly hurt, Joses !” exclaimed Bart. 
“ What are we to do ?” 


70 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“ Wait a minute till I think, 5 ’ said Joses. “He’s 
hurt in his head, that’s what’s the matter with 
him.” 

“ By the bear’s claws ?” 

“No, my lad; they didn’t hurt him. He’s scar’t.” 

“ Frightened?” said Bart. 

“ Yes. He’s lost his nerve, and daren’t move.” 

“Let’s say a few encouraging words to him.” 

“ You may say thousands, and they won’t do no 
good,” said Joses. “ He’s got the fright, and badly, 
too.” 

“But the bears are gone !” 

“ Ay, that they are, my lad; but the fall’s there, 
and that’s what he’s afraid of. I’ve seen men look 
like that before now when climbing up mountains.” 

“But it would be so easy to get back, Joses. I 
could do it directly.” 

“ So could he, if he hadn’t lost his nerve. Now, 
what’s to be done ?” 

“ Shall I creep out to him ?” said Bart, eagerly. 

“ What ! you ? What good would it do ? You 
don’t think you could carry him back like a baby ?” 

“ No,” said Bart; “ but I might help him.” 

“You couldn't help him a bit,” growled Joses; 
“ no more could I. All the good you could do would 
be to make him clutch you, and then down both 
would go at once, and what’s the use of that ?” 

“If we had brought a lasso with us!” 

“Well, if we had,” said Joses, “and could fasten 
it round him, I don’t believe we could haul him off, 
for he’d only cling ail the tighter, and perhaps drag 
us over the side.” 

“ What is to be done, then ?” said Bart. “ Here, 
Sam, make an effort, my lad! Creep back; it’s as 
easy as can be. Don’t be afraid. Here, I will come 
to you.” 

He threw down his gun, and before Joses could 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


71 


stop him he climbed out to the projecting limb, and, 
letting his legs go down on either side, worked him- 
self along till he was close behind Sam, whom he 
slapped on the back. 

“ There !” cried Bart. “ It’s easy enough. Don’t 
think of how deep down it is. Now I’m going back; 
you do the same. Come along.” 

As he spoke and said encouraging things to Sam, 
Bart felt himself impelled to gaze down into the 
depths beneath him. As he did so, the dashing 
bravery that had impelled him to risk his life that 
he might encourage his follower to creep back, all 
seemed to forsake him, a cold perspiration broke out 
on face and limbs, accompanied by a horrible para- 
lyzing sense of fear, and in an instant he was suffer- 
ing from the same loss of nerve as the man whom 
he wished to help. 

Bart’s hands clutched at the rough branch, and he 
strove to drive his finger nails into the bark in a 
spasmodic effort to save himself from death. He 
was going to fall ! He knew that he was ! Nothing 
could save him — nothing! In imagination he saw 
himself lose his hold of the branch, slip sidewise, and 
go down headlong as the bears had fallen, to strike 
against the rocks, glance off, and then plunge down, 
down, swifter and swifter into space. 

And so on, thought after thought of this kind, till 
all at once, as if out of a dream, a voice seemed to 
say to him : 

“ Well, I shouldn’t have thought Master Bart, as 
I’d taught all these years, was such a coward!” 

The words stung him, and seemed to bring him 
back to himself. 

Coward ! What would Maude think of him for 
being such a coward ? Not that it would much mat- 
ter if he fell down there and were smashed to death. 
What would the doctor, who had given him so many 


72 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


lessons on presence of mind, coolness in danger, and 
the like ? And here was he completely given up to 
the horror of his position, making no effort, when it 
was perhaps no harder to get back than it had been 
to get forward. 

“I won’t think of the depth,” said Bart, setting his 
teeth, and, raising himself upright, he hitched him- 
self a few inches back. 

Then the feeling of danger came upon him once 
more, and was mastering him rapidly, when the 
great rough voice of old Joses rang out loudly, in a 
half mocking, half angry tone: 

“ And I thought him such a brave ’un, too.” 

“ And so I will be,” muttered Bart, as he made a 
effort to recover from his feeling of panic; and as lie 
did so, he hitched himself along the branch towards 
the main trunk with his back half turned, and the 
next minute he was standing beside Joses, with his 
heart beating furiously, and a feeling of wonderment 
coming over him as to why it was that he had been 
so frightened over such a trifling matter. 

“ That's better, my lad,” said Joses, quietly; and 
as Bart gazed on the rough fellow’s face, expecting 
revilings and reproaches at his cowardice, he saw 
that the man’s bronzed and swarthy features looked 
dirty and mottled, his eyes staring, and that he was 
dripping with perspiration. 

Just then Joses gripped him by the shoulder in a 
way that would have made him wince, only he did 
not want to show the white feather again, and he 
stood firm as his companion said: 

“ ’Tain’t no use to talk like that to him. It won’t 
touch him, Master Bart. It’s very horrid when that 
lays hold of you, and you can’t help it.” 

“No,” said Bart, feeling relieved, “I could not 
help it.” 

“ Course you couldn’t, my lad. But now we must 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


73 


get old Scam back, or he’ll hang there till he faints, 
and then drop.” 

“Oh, Joses !” cried Bart. 

“ I only wish we could get a bear on the bough 
beyond him there. That would make him scuffle 
back.” 

“ Frighten him back ?” said Bart. 

“Yes; one fright would be bigger than the other, 
and make him come,” said Joses. 

“ Do you think that if we frightened him he would 
try to get back then ?” whispered Bart. 

“ I’m sure of it,” said Joses. 

“ Do as I do then,” said Bart, as he picked up his 
rifle. Then he exclaimed: 

“ Joses, we must not leave the poor fellow there 
to die of hunger. He can’t get back, so let’s put him 
out of his misery at once. Where shall 1 aim at ? 
His heart ?” 

“ No, no, Master Bart; his head. Send a bullet 
right through his skull, and it’ll be all over at once. 
You fire first.” 

Without a moment’s hesitation Bart rested the 
barrel of his rifle against the trunk, took careful 
aim, and fired so that the bullet whistled pretty 
closely by Sam’s ear. 

The man started and shuddered, seeming as if he 
were going to sit up, but he relapsed into the former 
position. 

“ I think I can do it, Master Bart, this time,” said 
Joses; and laying his piece in a notch formed by 
the bark, he took careful aim, and fired, his bullet 
going through Sam’s hat, and carrying it off to go 
fluttering down into the abyss. 

This time Sam did not move, and Bart gazed at 
Joses in despair. 

Bart hesitated for a few moments as he reloaded 
his rifle, and then he shouted to Sam. 


74 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


“ Now, no nonsense, Sam. You must get back.’* 

The man paid no heed to him, and Bart turned to 
Joses to say loudly: 

“We can’t leave him here like this. He must 
climb back or fall; so if he won’t climb back the 
sooner he is out of his misery the better.” 

“ That’s a true word,” said Joses. 

“ Give me your axe, then,” said Bart, and Joses 
drew it from his belt, when Bart took it, and after 
moistening his hands, drove it into the branch just 
where it touched the tree, making a deep incision, 
and then drove it in again, when a white, wedge 
shaped chip flew out, for the boy had been early in 
life taught the use of the axe. 

Then, cutting rapidly and well, he sent the chips 
flying, while every stroke sent a quiver along the 
great branch. 

Still Sam clung to the spot where he had been 
from the first, and made no effort to move. And at 
last, when he was half way through the branch, Bart 
stopped short in despair, for the pretense of cutting 
it off had not the slightest effect upon Sam. 

“Tired, Master Bart ?” cried Joses; and, snatching 
away the axe, he began to apply it with tremendous 
effect, the chips flying over the precipice, and a 
great yawning opening appeared in the upper part 
of the branch. 

“Don’t cut any farther, Joses,” 'whispered Bart, 
“it will give way!” 

“ I shall cut till it begins to, Master Bart,” replied 
the man; and as he spoke he went on making the 
chips fly, but still without effect, for Sam did not 
move. 

“ I shall have to give up directly, my lad,” whis- 
pered Joses, with a peculiar look; “but I’ll have one 
more chop.” 

He raised the axe and delivered another sharp 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


75 


blow, when there was a loud crack as if half a dozen 
rifles had gone off at once, and almost before the 
fact could be realized the branch went down, to re- 
main hanging only by a few tough portions of its 
under part. 

Bart and Joses looked over the precipice, aghast 
at what they had done, and gazed down at Sam’s 
wild face, as, with his legs dislodged from their po- 
sition, he seemed to have been turned right over, 
and to be clinging solely in a death grip with his 
arms. 

Then, with cat-like alacrity, he seemed to wrench 
himself round, holding on to the lower part of the 
bough with his legs; and the next moment he was 
climbing steadily up, with the bough swinging to 
and fro beneath his weight. 

It was a question now of the toughness of the 
fibers by which the bough hung; and the strain 
upon the minds of the watchers was terrible as they 
crouched there gazing over the edge of the awful 
precipice, momentarily expecting to see branch and 
man go headlong down as the bears had fallen be- 
fore them. 

But Sam climb steadily up during what seemed to 
be a long time, but which was only a few moments, 
reaching at last the jagged points where the branch 
was broken, when there came an ominous crack, and 
Sam paused as if irresolute. 

“ Keep it up,” panted Bart, and his words seemed 
to electrify the man, who made one or two more 
clutches at the branch and then he was in safety be- 
side his companions, staring stupidly from one to 
the other. 

“ I didn’t think I was going to get back,” he said 
at last. “It was you cutting the branch did it; I 
shouldn’t have moved else.” 

There was no show of resentment — no annoyance 


76 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


at having been treated in this terrible manner. Sam 
only seemed very thankful for his escape, and, trot- 
ing off to where he had dropped his rifle when pur- 
sued by the bears, he rejoined his companions and 
proceeded with them back towards the camp. 

Upon learning the fact that they had so nearly 
crossed the ridge of mountains, the doctor resolved 
the next day to proceed as far as the point where 
the adventure with the bears had taken place, and 
there endeavor, by the aid of his glass, to determine 
which direction to take; whether to find a ravine by 
which they might descend into the plain, or whether 
it would be better to remain amongst these moun- 
tains, and here continue his search. 

The place was reached in due time, and for the 
time being there seemed to be no chance of getting 
down into the plain, either to search for the bears or 
to pursue their course in that direction. 

The doctor examined the slopes and ravines, 
plunged down into the most sheltered chasms, and 
clipped at the fragments of rock, but no sign of sil- 
ver rewarded the search, and they returned to camp 
empty handed. 


/ 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


77 


CHAPTER X. 

BEAVER- WITH-THE-SHARP-TEETH. 

In these thorough solitudes amongst the hills the 
practice of keeping watch had not been so strictly 
attended to as during the journey in the plains, for 
the Indians seldom visited these rugged places — in 
fact, none but the searchers after mineral treasures 
were likely to come into these toilsome regions. 
Hence it was then that the next night the party 
were so wanting in vigilance. 

Harry had been appointed to the latter half of the 
night, and after diligently keeping guard through 
the earlier hours, Joses awakened his successor, and, 
fully trusting in his carrying out his duties, went 
and lay down in his blanket, and in a few seconds 
was fast asleep. 

That morning at sunrise, after a delicious night’s 
rest, Bart rose to have a look round before break- 
fast, wnen to his horror he saw that the camp was 
apparently in the hands of the Indians, who had 
been allowed by the negligent sentinel to approach 
while those who would have defended it slept. 

Bart’s first movement was to seize his gun, his 
next to arouse the doctor. 

Then he stopped short, sorry for what he had 
done, for just then, free from all stiffness in his 
wounded arm, their old friend the chief came strid- 
ing across the open space before the wagon, and 
upon seeing Bart held out his hands in token of 
friendship. 


78 IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 

Bart shook hands with him; as he glanced round 
he could see that the faces of those around were all 
familiar except one, whom the chief had beckoned 
to approach, which the strange Indian did with a 
stately air. A short conversation between him and 
the chief took place, after which the new comer 
turned to Bart, and said in very fair English: 

“The great chief, Beaver-with-the-Sharp-Teeth, 
bids me tell you that he has been back to his people 
to fetch one of his warriors who can speak the tongue 
of the pale faced people, and I am that warrior. 
The great chief Beaver-with-the-Sharp-Teeth says it 
is peace, and he comes to see his friends and the 
great medicine man, who brought him back to life 
when wounded by the poisonous arrows of the In- 
dian dogs of the plains.” 

“ We are very glad to see Beaver-with-the-Sharp- 
Teeth again,” cried Bart, heartily, “and delighted 
to find lie has brought a great warrior who can 
speak our language.” 

“So that it flows soft and sweet,” said a hoarse 
voice, and Joses stood up. “ How are you, chief ?” 

The hearty, friendly look and extended hand 
needed no interpretation, and the greeting between 
them was warm enough to bring smiles into the 
faces of all the Indians, who had no scruple soon 
afterwards about finishing the mountain mutton. 

After the breakfast Bart and the doctor learned 
that the chief Beaver, as it was settled to call him, 
had been off really on purpose to get an interpreter, 
knowing that he could find the trail of his friends 
again, and this he had done, following them into the 
mountains, and coming upon them as we have seen. 

Conversation was easy now, and Bart learned that 
their friends had had a severe fight in the plains a 
short time before the first meeting, and that Beaver 
was sure that he would die of his wound, and be left 


IK THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


79 


ill the wilderness the same as they had left fifteen of 
their number, the odds against them having been 
terribly great. 

Later on came questions, the Beaver being anx- 
ious to know why the doctor’s party were there. 

“ You have not come upon the war path,” the 
• Beaver said, “ for you are weak in number, and you 
have brought a woman. Why are you here ?” 

Then the doctor explained his object — to find a 
vein of either gold or silver somewhere in the moun- 
tains, and as soon as it was all interpreted, the chief 
laughed outright. 

“He does not set much store by the precious 
metals, Bart,” said the doctor; “and when I see the 
simplicity of their ways, it almost makes me ashamed 
of our own.” 

Just then the Beaver talked earnestly for a few 
moments with the warrior who interpreted, and re- 
turned to the doctor. 

“ The Beaver- with-the-Sharp-Teeth says you gave 
him life when all was growing black, and he thought 
to see his people never more; and now he says that 
he rejoices that he can take his brother across the 
plains to where a great river runs deep down by the 
side of a mighty mountain, where there is silver in 
greater quantities than can be carried away.” 

“ Does the chief know of such a place ?” cried the 
doctor, excitedly. 

“Yes; he and I have seen it often,” said the In- 
dian. 

“ And will he take me there ?” 

“Yes; the Beaver will take his brother there, and 
give it all into his hands.” 

“At last !” cried the doctor, excitedly. Then in a 
low voice, “ Suppose it should not prove to be sil- 
ver after all?” 

“I know it is silver,” said the Indian, quietly. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


80 

“ Look,” he cried, taking a clumsily made ring from 
his medicine hag, “ that came from there, so did the 
ring upon the lariat of the chief.” 

“Ask him when he will take me there,” cried the 
doctor. 

“ He says now,” replied the Indian, smiling at the 
doctor’s eagerness and excitement. “ It is a long 
way, and the plains are hot, and there is little water; 
hut we can hunt as we go, and all will be well.” 

“You know the way from here down into the 
plain,” said the doctor. “It is a long way, is it 
not ?” 

The Indian smiled. “ It is a very short journey,” 
he said. “I know the way.” 

They started as soon as the camp was struck, and 
the Beaver, leading the way, took them down a deep 
gulch, of whose existence they were unaware, hy 
which they made an easy descent into the plain. 
They hurried on with such good effect that at sun- 
set the bold bluff, where the adventure with the 
bears had taken place, stood up in the distance, 
with the steep wall falling away on either side, look- 
ing diminutive from where they were. 

When they were camping for the night, and Black 
Boy, Bart’s cob, had been divested of saddle and 
bridle, and after being watered was about to be se- 
cured by the lariat to the tether peg, the excitable 
little creature, that had been till now all docility 
and tractableness, suddenly uttered a shrill neigh, 
pranced, reared up, and before Bart could seize it 
by the mane, went off across the plain like the wind. 

The loss of such a beast would have been irrepar- 
able, and the doctor and Joses ran to untether 
their horses to join pursuit. Before they could 
reach them the Beaver and half a dozen of his men 
were after the cob at full speed, loosing tlieir lariats 
as they rode and holding them over their heads 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


81 


ready to use as lassos as soon as they could get 
within reach of the fugitive. 

Bart was helpless, for there was no horse of their 
own left that was of the slightest use for pursuit of 
his swift little cob. All he could do was to stare 
after those engaged in the pursuit in a hopeless 
way as the truant galloped on at full speed, swish- 
ing its tail, tossing its head, and apparently reveling 
in its newly found liberty. 

All at once Bart became aware of the fact that one 
of the Indians had been for some minutes watching 
him attentively, and the man had uttered a low gut- 
tural laugh, as if he were enjoying the youth’s mis- 
fortune. 

“ I wonder how he would like it,” thought Bart, as 
he darted an indignant look at the Indian, who sat 
upon his swift pony like a group cut in bronze. 
“ He might just as well have gone after Black Boy, 
for his pony looks as if it could go.” 

Just then the Indian threw himself lightly from 
his nag and drew near to Bart, with the horsehair 
rein in his hand. Then he made signs to the young 
fellow to mount. 

“ Do you mean that you will lend me the pony to 
go after my own ?” said Bart, eagerly. 

The Indian did not understand his words, but 
evidently realized their meaning, for he smiled and 
nodded, and placed the rein in Bart’s hand. He 
leaped into the saddle, or rather into the apology 
for a saddle, for it was only a piece of bison hide 
held on by a bandage, while a sort of knob or peg 
was in the place of the pummel. This is a contriv- 
ance invented by the Indians to hold on by when at- 
tacking a dangerous enemy, so as to lie, as it were, 
alongside of their horse, and fire or shoot arrows 
beneath its neck, they being in this way thoroughly 
protected by their horses. 


82 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


The Indian smiled and drew back, when Bari 
touched the pony with his heel, the result being 
that, instead of going off at a gallop, the little rest- 
ive beast reared up, pawing at the air with its hoofs, 
and nearly falling backwards upon its rider. But 
the lad kept his seat, and the pony went on all fours 
again, but only to begin to “buck;” that is to say, 
instead of letting its back remain in an agreeable 
hollow curve, it curved its spine in the opposite di- 
rection, arching it as a cat would, and then began 
leaping up from the earth in a series of buck jumps, 
all four hoofs from the ground at once. 

Still, in spite of this being the most difficult form 
of horse trouble to master, Bart kept his seat. He 
was jerked about a great deal, but he had been long 
used to riding restive horses, and he sat there as 
coolly as if in a chair. 

The animal’s pranks went on for a few minutes, 
the Indian looking smilingly on the while, till, see- 
ing that Bart was not to be dislodged, the pony be- 
gan to back and finally lay down. 

This of course dismounted the rider, and with a 
neigh of triumph the pony sprang to its feet again, 
evidently meaning to bound off after Black Boy and 
enjoy a turn of freedom. 

The pony had reckoned without its rider, for Bart 
was too old at such matters to leave his grasp of the 
rein, and the Indian cob’s first knowledge of its mis- 
take was given by a sharp check to its under jaw, 
round which the horsehair rope was twitched, the 
next by finding its rider back in his old place, where 
he had leaped as lightly as could be. 

The Indian gave an approving grunt, and the pony 
resigned itself to its fate, and, obeying the touch of 
Bart’s heel, went off at a fine springing gallop. 

It was a long chase and an arduous one, for Black 
Boy seeemed to scorn all attempts at capture, and 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


83 


led his pursuers a tremendous run; and had it not 
been for his master, late as he was in the field, the 
cob would not have been captured that night. As 
it was, Bart went off at speed, setting at defiance 
prairie dogs’ burrows, and other holes that might be 
in his way, and at last he contrived to cut off a cor- 
ner so as to get nearer to his nag, when, taking the 
rein beneath his leg, he placed both hands to his 
mouth and uttered a long shrill cry. 

It acted like magic upon Black Boy, who recog- 
nized it directly as his master’s call, and having had 
his frolic, he trotted slowly towards where Bart can- 
tered on, suffered himself to be caught, and the 
party returned in triumph, none the worse, save the 
tiring, for the adventure. 


84 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE SILVER CANYON. 

A week’s arduous journey over a sterile stretch of 
country, where water was very scarce and where 
game was hard to approach, brought them at last in 
reach of what looked to be a curiously formed moun- 
tain far away in the middle of an apparently bound- 
less plain. Then it struck Bart that it could not be 
a mountain, for its sides were perpendicular, and its 
top, at a distance, seemed to be perfectly flat; and 
long discussions arose between him and the doctor 
as to the peculiarity of the strange eminence stand- 
ing up so prominently right in the. middle of the 
plain. 

While they were discussing the subject, the Bea- 
ver and his English speaking follower came to their 
side, and, pointing to the mountain, gave them to 
understand that this was their destination. 

“ But is there silver there ?” said the doctor, 
eagerly, when the Indian smiled and said quietly: 

“ Wait and see.” 

The mountain, on being first seen, appeared to be 
at quite a short distance; but at the end of their first 
day’s journey they seemed to* have got no nearer, 
while after another day, though it had assumed more 
prominent proportions, they were still at some dis- 
tance, and it was not until the third morning that 
the little party stood on the reedy shores of a long, 
narrow, winding lake, one end of which they had to 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


85 


skirt before they could ride up to the foot of the flat 
topped mountain, which looked as if it had been 
suddenly thrust by some wondrous volcanic action 
right from the plain to form what appeared to be a 
huge castle many hundred feet high, and with no 
ravine or rift in the wall by which it could be ap- 
proached. 

All Bart’s questions were met by the one sole an- 
swer from the Indian, “Wait and see;” and in this 
spirit the savages guided them along beneath the 
towering ramparts of the mountain, whose scarped 
sides even a mountain sheep could not have climbed. 
Towards evening rein was drawn close under the 
mighty rocks, fragments of which had fallen here 
and there, loosened by time or cut loose by the shafts 
of storms to lie crumbling about its feet. 

There seemed to be no reason for halting there, 
save that there was a little spring of water trickling 
down from the rocks, while a short distance in front 
what seemed to be a wide crack appeared in the 
plain, zigzagging here and there, one end going off 
into the distance, the other appearing to pass round 
close by the mountain; and as soon as they were dis- 
mounted and the horses tethered, The Beaver signed 
to Bart and the doctor to follow him, while the in- 
terpreter came close behind. 

It was a glorious evening, and after the heat of the 
day the soft, cool breeze that swept over the plain 
was refreshing in the extreme; but, all the same, 
Bart felt very hungry, and his thoughts were more 
upon some carefully picked sage grouse that Joses 
and Maude were roasting than upon the search for 
silver; but the doctor was excited, for he felt that 
most likely this would prove to be the goal of their 
long journey. His great fear was that the Indians 
in their ignorance might have mistaken some white 
shining stone or mica for the precious metal. 


86 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


The crack in the plain seemed to grow wider as 
they approached, but the Indians suddenly led them 
off to the right, close under the towering flank of the 
mountain, and between it and a mass of rock that 
might have been split from it at some early stage in 
the world’s life. 

This mass was some forty or fifty feet high, and 
between it and the parent mountain there was a nar- 
row rift, so narrow, in fact, that they had to proceed 
in single file for about a hundred yards, winding in 
and out till, reaching the end, the Indians stood 
upon a broad kind of shelf of rock in silence as the 
doctor and Bart involuntarily uttered a cry of sur- 
prise. 

For there was a chasm in the plain below their 
feet, and they were standing upon its very verge 
where it came in close to the mountain, whose top 
was some seven hundred feet above their heads, 
while here its perpendicular side went down for fully 
another thousand to where, in the solemn dark 
depths of the vast canyon or crack in the rocky crust 
of the earth, a great rushing river ran, its roar rising 
to where they stood in a strangely weird monotone, 
like low echoing thunder. 

The reflections in the evening sky lighted up the 
vast rift for a while, and Bart forgot his hunger in 
the contemplation of this strange freak of nature, 
of a river running below in a channel whose walls 
were perfectly perpendicular, and against which in 
places the rapid stream seemed to beat and eddy and 
swirl, w r hile in other parts there were long stretches 
of pebbly and rocky shore. As far as Bart could 
judge, the walls seemed to be about four hundred feet 
apart, though in the fading evening light it was hard 
to tell anything for certain. 

Just then the Beaver spoke. He had evidently 
been taking lessons from the interpreter, as smiling 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


87 


loftily and half in pity at the eagerness of men who 
could care for such a trifle as white ore when they 
had horses and rifles, he pointed up at the perpen- 
dicular face of the mountain and then downward at 
the wall of the canyon, and said: 

“Silver — silver. Beaver give his brother. Med- 
icine man.” 

“He means there is silver here, sir, and he gives 
it to you,” said Bart, eagerly. 

“Yes. Give. Silver,” said the chief, nodding his 
head, and holding out his hand, which the doctor 
grasped, Bart doing the same by the other. 

“ I am very grateful,” said the doctor at last, 
while his eyes kept wandering about, “ but I see 
none.” 

“ Silver — silver,” said the chief again, as he looked 
up and then down, ending by addressing some words 
in the Indian dialect to the interpreter, who pointed 
in the direction of the camp. 

“ The Beaver-with-the-Sharp-Teetli says, let us 
eat,” he said. 

This brought back Bart’s hunger so vividly to his 
recollection that he laughed merrily and turned to 
g°- 

“ Yes,” he said, “ let us eat by all means. Shall we 
come in the morning and examine this place, sir ?” 

“Yes, Bart, we will,” said the doctor, as they turn- 
ed back; “but I’m afraid we shall be disappointed. 
What was that ?” 

“ An Indian,” said Bart. “ I saw him glide 
amongst the rocks. Was it an enemy?” 

“No; impossible, I should say,” replied the doctor. 
“One of our own party. Our friends here would 
have seen him if he had been an enemy long before 
we should.” 

“ And so you think there is no silver here, sir ?” 
said Bart. 


88 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“I can’t tell yet, my boy. There may be; but 
these men know so little about such things that 1 
cannot help feeling doubtful. However, we shall 
see, and if I am disappointed I shall know what to 
do.” 

“ Try again, sir,” said Bart. 

“ Try again, my boy, for there is ample store in the 
mountains if we can find it.” 

“ Yes,” he said, as they walked back, “ this is going 
to be a disappointment.” He picked up a piece of 
stone as he went along between the rocks. “ This 
stone does not look like silver bearing stratum. But 
we’ll wait till the morning, Bart, and see.” 

Upon reaching the wagon they found Joses smil- 
ing and sniffing as he stood on the leeward side of 
the fire, so as to get the full benefit of the odor of 
the sage grouse, which looked juicy brown, and de- 
licious enough to tempt the most ascetic of indivi- 
duals, while Maude laughed merrily to see the eager 
glances. Bart kept directing his gaze at the iron 
rod upon which the birds had been spitted and hung 
before the fire. 

“ Don’t you wish we had a nice new loaf or two, 
Bart ?” she said, looking very serious, and as if dis- 
appointed that this was not the case. 

“ Oh, don’t talk about it,” cried Bart. 

“I won’t,” said Maude, trying to appear serious. 
“It makes you look like a wolf, Bart.” 

“ And that’s how I feel,” he cried — “ horribly like 
one.” 

Half an hour later he owned that he felt more 
like a reasonable being, for not only had he had a 
fair portion of the delicate sage grouse, but found 
to his delight that there was an ample supply of 
cakes freshly made and baked in the ashes while he 
had been with the doctor exploring. 

Bart took one turn round their little camp before 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


89 


lying down to sleep, finding to his satisfaction that 
the Beaver had posted four men as sentinels, Joses 
telling his young leader afterwards when . he lay 
down that the chief had refused to allow either of 
the white men to go on duty that night. 

“ You think he is to be trusted, don’t you, Joses ?” 
asked Bart, sleepily. 

“ Trusted ? Oh, yes, he’s to be trusted, my lad. 
Injuns are as bad as can be, but some of ’em’s got 
good p’ints, and this one, though he might have 
scalped the lot of us once upon a time, became our 
friend as soon as the doctor cured his arm. And it 
was a cure, too, for now it’s as strong and well as 
ever. I tell you what, Master Bart.” 

No answer. 

“ I say, young one, are you asleep ?” 

No reply. 

“Well, he has dropped off sudden,” growled 
Joses. “I suppose I must tell him what another 
time.” 

Having made up his mind to this, the sturdy fel- 
low gave himself a twist in his blanket, laid his head 
upon his arm, and in a few seconds was as fast asleep 
as Bart. 

The latter slept soundly all but once in the night, 
when it seemed to him that he had heard a strange 
wild cry, and starting up on his elbow, he listened 
attentively for some moments, but the cry was not 
repeated. Feeling that it must have been in his 
dreams that he had heard the sound, he lay down 
again and slept till dawn, when he sprang up, left 
every one asleep, and stole off, rifle in hand, to have 
a look down into the tremendous canyon. 

He recollected well enough the way they had gone 
on the previous evening, and as he stepped swiftly 
forward, there at the bottom of the narrow rift be- 
tween the mass of fallen rock and the mountain, was 


90 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


the pale horizon, with a few streaks above it fleck- 
ing the early morning sky and telling of the coming 
day. 

“ The canyon will look glorious when the sun is 
up,” said Bart to himself; “hut I don't see any game 
about, and — oh !” 

Click — click — click — click went the locks of his 
double rifle as he came suddenly upon a sight which 
seemed to freeze his blood. 

He sprang to shelter, sheltering himself behind a 
block of stone, his rifle ready, and covering every 
spot in turn that seemed likely to contain the cruel 
enemy that had done this deed. 

For there before him — but flat upon his back, his 
arms outstretched, his long lance beneath him — lay 
one of the friendly Indians, while his companion lay 
half raised upon his side, as if he had dragged 
himself a short distance so as to recline with his 
head upon a piece of rock. His spear was across 
his legs, and it was very evident that he had been 
like this for some time after receiving his death 
wound. 

For both were dead, the morning light plainly 
showing that in their hideous glassy eyes, without 
the terrible witness of the pool of blood that had 
trickled from their gaping wounds. 

Bart shuddered and felt as if a hand of ice were 
grasping his heart. Then a fierce feeling of rage 
came over him, and his eyes flashed as lie looked 
round for the treacherous enemies who had done 
this deed. 

He looked in vain, and at last he stole cautiously 
out of his lurking place; then forgot his caution, 
and ran to where the Indians lay, forgetting, in his 
eagerness to help them, the horrors of the scene. 

But he could do nothing, for as he laid his band 
ppon the breast of each in turn it was to find that 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


91 


their hearts had ceased to beat, and they were al- 
ready cold. 

Racing back to the camp he spread his news, and 
the Beaver and his little following ran off to see for 
themselves the truth of his story, after which they 
mounted, and started to find the trail of the treach- 
erous murderers of their companions. During their 
absence the doctor examined the two slaughtered 
Indians, and gave it as his opinion that they had 
both been treacherously stabbed from behind. 

It was past midday before the Beaver returned to 
announce that there had only been two Indians 
lurking about their camp. 

“ And did you overtake them ?” asked Bart. 

The chief smiled in a curious, grim way, and 
pointed to a couple of scalps that hung at the belts 
of two of his warriors, 

“ They were on foot; we were mounted,” he said, 
quietly. “ They deserved to die. We had not in- 
jured them, or stolen their wives or horses. They 
deserved to die.” 

This was unanswerable, and no one spoke, the In- 
dians going off to bury their dead companions, 
which they did simply by finding a suitable crevice 
in the depth of the ravine near which they had been 
slain, laying them in side by side, with their medi- 
cine bags hung from their necks, their weapons 
ready to their hands, and their buffalo robes about 
them, all ready for their use in the happy hunting 
grounds. 

This done, they were covered with bushes, and 
then with stones, and the Indians returned to camp. 


92 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER XII. 

in nature’s storehouse. 

The tragic event seemed to add terribly to the 
sense of insecurity felt by the doctor, and Joses was 
not slow to speak out. 

“ We may have a mob of horse Injuns down upon 
us at any moment,” he growled. “ I don’t think 
were very safe.” 

“Joses is right,” said the doctor; “ we must see if 
there is a rich deposit of silver here, and then, if all 
seems well, we must return, and get together a force 
of recruits so as to be strong enough to resist the 
Indians, should they attack us, and ready to work 
the mines.” 

“ Haven’t seen no mines yet,” growled Joses. 

The doctor coughed with a look of vexation upon 
his countenance, and, beckoning to the chief, he 
took his rifle. Bart rose, and leaving Joses in 
charge of the camp, they started for the edge of the 
canyon. 

There was no likelihood of enemies being about 
the place after the event of the morning, but to the 
little party every shrub and bush, every stone, 
seemed to suggest a lurking place for a treacherous 
enemy. Still they pressed on, the chief taking 
them, for some unknown reason, in the opposite 
route, along beneath the perpendicular walls of the 
mountain, which here ran straight up from the 
plain. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


93 


They went by a rugged patch of broken rock, and 
by what seemed to be a great post, stuck up there 
by human hands, but which proved, on a nearer ap- 
proach, to be the remains of a moderate sized tree 
that had been struck by lightning, the whole of the 
upper portion having been charred away, leaving 
only some ten feet standing up out of the ground. 

A short distance further on, as they were close in 
by the steep wall of rock, they came to a slight pro- 
jection, as if a huge piece had slipped down from 
above, and, turning sharply round this, the Beaver 
pointed to a narrow rift just wide enough to allow 
of the passage of one man at a time. 

He signed to the doctor to enter, and climbing 
over a few rough stones, the latter passed in and out 
of sight. 

“ Bart ! quick, my boy ! quick !” he said, directly 
after, and the lad sprang in to help him, as he 
thought, in some perilous adventure, but only to 
stop and stare at the long sloping narrow passage 
fringed with prickly cactus plants, which slope ran 
evidently up the side of the mountain. 

“Why, it’s the way up to the top !” cried Bart. 
“ I wonder who made it?” 

“ Dame Nature, I should say, my boy,” said the 
doctor. “We must explore this. Why, what a nat- 
ural fortification ! One man could hold this pass- 
age against hundreds.” 

Just then the chief appeared below them, for they 
had climbed up a few yards, and signed to them to 
come down. 

The doctor hesitated, and then descended. 

“ Let’s see what he has to show, Bart. I have seen 
no silver yet.” 

They followed the Beaver down, and he led them 
straight back, past the camp, through the narrow 
ravine, once more to the shelf of rock overlooking 


94 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


tlie canyon, and now, in the full glare of the sunny 
afternoon, they were able to realize the grandeur of 
the scene where the river ran swiftly down bolow, 
fully a thousand feet, in a bed of its own, shut out 
from the upper world by the perpendicular walls of 
rock. 

The chief now made signs to the doctor to follow 
him, first laying down his rifle and signing to the 
doctor to do the same. 

Dr. Lascelles hesitated for a moment, and then 
did as the chief wished, when the Beaver went on 
for a few yards to where the shelf of rock seemed to 
end, and there was nothing but a sheer fall of a 
thousand feet down to the bottom of the canyon, 
while above towered up the mountain, which 
seemed like a Titanic bastion round which the river 
curved. 

Without a moment’s hesitation the chief turned 
his face to them, lowered himself over the edge of 
the shelf down and down till only his hands re- 
mained visible. Then he drew himself up till his 
face was above the rock, and made a sign to the doc- 
tor to come on. 

“ I dare not go, Bart,” said the doctor, whose face 
was covered with dew. “Would you be afraid to 
follow him, my boy ?” 

“I should be afraid, sir,” replied Bart, laying 
• down his rifle, “ but I’ll go.” 

“ No, no, I will not be such a coward,” cried the 
doctor; and going boldly to the edge, he refrained 
from looking over, but turned and lowered himself 
down, passing out of Bart’s sight; and when the 
latter crept to the edge and looked down, he could 
see a narrow ledge below with climbing plants and 
luxuriant shrubs, but no sight of the doctor or his 
guide. 

Bart remained motionless — horror stricken as the 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


95 


thought came to him that they might have slipped 
and gone headlong into the chasm below; but on 
looking back he saw one of the Indians who was of 
the party smiling and evidently quite satisfied that 
nothing was wrong. 

This being so, Bart remained gazing down into 
the canyon, listening intently, and wondering 
whither the pair could have gone. Soon he heard a 
call: 

“ The Beaver’s coming to you, Bart. Lower your- 
self down, my boy, and come.” 

These — the doctor’s — words sounded close at 
hand, but the speaker was invisible. 

‘‘All right; I’ll come,” cried Bart; and as he 
spoke a feeling of shrinking came over him, and he 
felt ready to draw back. But calling upon himself, 
he went close to the edge, trying to look under, and 
the next moment there was the head of the Beaver 
just below, gazing up at him with a half mocking 
smile upon his face. 

“You think I’m afraid,” said Bart, looking down 
at him, “ but I can’t help that. I’ll come all the 
same ;” and swiftly turning, he lowered himself down 
till his body was hanging as it were in space, and 
only his chest and elbows were on the shelf. 

Then for a moment he seemed to hesitate, but he 
mastered the shrinking directly after, and lowered 
himself more and more till he hung at the extremity 
of his hands, vainly seeking for a foot hold. 

“Are you there, Beaver?” he shouted; and he felt 
his waist seized and his sides pinioned by two strong 
hands, his own parted company from the shelf, and 
he seemed to fall a terrible distance, but it was only 
a couple of feet, and he found himself standing upon 
the solid rock, with the shelf jutting out above his 
head, and plenty of room to peer about amongst the 
clustering bushes. 


96 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


The chief smiled at his startled look, and, pointing 
to the left, Bart glanced sidewise at where the preci- 
pice went down, and then walked onward cautiously 
along a rugged shelf not much unlike the one from 
which he had descended, save that it was densely 
covered with shrubbery growth. 

This shelf suddenly ended in a rift like a huge 
crevice in the face of the mountain, but there was 
a broad crack before it, and this it was necessary to 
leap before entering the rift. 

Bart stopped short, gazing down into what seemed 
an awful abyss, but the Beaver passed him lightly, 
as if there were no danger whatever, and lightly 
leaped across to some rough pieces of rock. The 
distance was nothing, but the depths below made it 
seem an awful leap, till Bart felt that the doctor 
must have gone over it before him, and without fur- 
ther hesitation he bounded across and stood beside 
the chief, who led the way farther into the rift to 
where, some fifty feet from the entrance, the doctor 
was standing, hammer in hand, gazing intently at 
the newly chipped rock and the fragments that lay 
around. 

“ At last, Bart,” he cried,* joyously. 

“What! Is it a vein ?” said Bart, eagerly. 

“A vein, boy? It is a mountain of a silver — a 
valley of silver. Here are great threads of the 
precious metal, and masses of ore as well. It seems 
as if it ran right down the sides of the canyon, and, 
from what the Indian appears to know, it does, 
Bart. I never expected to make such a find as 
this.” 

As he spoke, he handed pieces of the rock to Bart, 
who found that in some there were angular pieces 
of what seemed to be native silver, 'while others were 
full of threads and veins, or appeared as pieces of 
dull metalliferous stone, 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO. 


97 


“ But how are we to carry it away, sir ?” asked 
Bart, dryly. 

“ Carry it away ! Why, do you not understand 
that this mine will want working, and that we must 
have a large number of men here ? But come, let’s 
get back. I must tell my child. Such a discovery 
was never made before.” 

As he spoke, he was already climbing up towards 
the shelf, his excitement in his tremendous find 
making him forget the risks he kept running. Bart 
drew his breath hard, climbing slowly after his com- 
panion, till at last they stood once more upon the 
shelf. 

They soon reached the little camp, where the doc- 
tor eagerly communicated his news to his child, and 
then taking Joses aside, he repeated it to him. 

“Well, that’s right, boss. I’m glad, of course; 
and hope it’ll make you rich, for you want it bad 
enough after so many years of loss with your cattle. 
And now what’s going to be done ? Are we to carry 
the mountain back to the old ranch ?” 

The doctor frowned. 

“ We shall have to return at once, Joses, to organ- 
ize a regular mining party. We must have plenty 
of well armed men, and tools, and machinery to 
work this great find. We must go back at once.” 

“Now, boss?” 

“No, no, perhaps not for a week, my man,” said 
the doctor, whose nervous excitement seemed to in- 
crease. “ I must thoroughly investigate the extent 
of the silver deposit, descend into the canyon, and 
ascend the mountain. Then we must settle where 
our new town is to be.” 

“ Ah, we’re going to have a new town, are we, 
boss?” 

“ To be sure ! Of course ! How could the min- 
ing be carried on without ?” 


98 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


Joses shook his head. 

“ P’r’aps we shall stay here a week, then, boss ?” 
he said, at last. 

“Yes; perhaps a fortnight.” 

“ Then, if you don’t mind, I think we’ll move camp 
to that little patch of rocks close by that little old 
blasted tree that stands up like a post. I’ve been 
thinking it will be a better place; and if you’ll give 
the word I’ll put the little keg of powder in a hole 
somewhere. I don’t think it’s quite right to have it 
so near our fire every day.” 

“Do what you think best, Joses,” said the doctor, 
eagerly. “Yes; I should bury the powder under 
the rocks somewhere, so that we can easily get 
at it again. But why do you want to move the 
camp ?” 

“Because that’s a better place, with plenty of 
rocks for cover if the Injuns should come and look 
us up.” 

“ Let us change, then,” said the doctor, abstract- 
edly; and that afternoon they shifted to the cluster 
of rocks near the blasted tree, close under the shel- 
ter of the mountain side. Bocks were cleared from 
a center and piled round; the wagon was well se- 
cured; a good place found for the horses; and 
lastly, Joses lit his cigarette, and then took the keg 
of gunpowder, carried it to a convenient spot near 
the withered tree, and buried it beneath some loose 
stones. 

A hasty meal was snatched, and then the doctor 
went off again alone, while the Beaver signed to 
Bart to follow him, and then took him past the nar- 
row opening that led to the way up the mountain, 
and showed him a second opening, through which 
they passed, to find within a good open cavernous 
hollow at the foot of the mountain wall, shut in by 
huge masses of rock. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


99 


“ Why, our horses would he safe here, even if we 
were attacked l” exclaimed Bart, and, hurrying hack, 
he fetched Joses to inspect the place. 

“ Do you think it is necessary, Joses ?” said Bart. 

“ It’s always necessary to he safe out in the plains, 
my lad,” replied Joses. “ How do we know that the 
Injuns won’t come tonight to look after the men 
they’ve lost? Same time, how do we know they 
will ? Ail the same, though, you can never he too 
safe. Let’s get the horses inside# my lad, as we 
have such a place, and I half wish now we’d gone 
up the mountain somewhere to find our camp. You 
never know when danger may come.” 

“ Horses in there,” said Bart to the Beaver, and he 
pointed to the entrance. 

The chief nodded, and seemed to have under- 
stood them all along hy their looks and ways, so 
that when the horses, belonging to the doctor’s 
party, were driven in that evening, he had those of 
his own followers driven in as well, and it was set- 
tled that Joses was to be the watchman that night. 

It was quite sundown when the doctor returned, 
this time with Maude, whom he liad taken to he an 
eye witness of his good fortune. Bart went to meet 
them, and that glorious, glowing evening they sat 
in their little camp reveling in the soft, pure air, 
which seemed full of exhilaration. 

Then Bart went off to where Joses was smoking 
his cigarito and staring at the stars. He heard some 
unpleasant and annoying news. 

“Drunk!” he exclaimed. “What? Sam and 
Juan ? Where could they get the stuff ? They must 
have crept under the wagon and broken a hole 
through, for the brandy lay there treasured up in 
ca&e of illness.” 

“ I’ll thrash ’em both till they can t crawl,” cried 
Joses, wratlifully. “ It’s no good, though, tc do it 


100 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


tonight, when they can’t understand. Let them 
sleep it off tonight, my boy, and tomorrow morning 
we’ll show the Beaver and his men what we do to 
thieves who steal liquor to get drunk. I wouldn’t 
have thought it of them.” 

“ What shall you do to them, Joses ?” said Bart. 

“ Tie them up to that old post of a tree, my boy, 
and give them a taste of horse hair lariat. That’s 
what I’ll do to them. They're under me, they are, 
and I’m answerable to the boss. But there, don’t 
say no more; it makes me mad, Master Bart. Go 
back now, and let them sleep it off. I’m glad I 
moved that powder.” • 

“So am I, Joses,” said Bart; and after a few more 
words he returned to the camp to find the two 
offenders fast asleep. 

Bart was very weary when he lay down, after 
glancing round to see that all proper precautions 
had been taken; and it seemed to him that he had 
not been asleep five minutes when he felt a hand 
laid upon his mouth, and another grasp his shoul- 
der. On looking up, there, between him and the 
sky was a dark Indian face. 

For a moment he had thought of resistance. The 
next he had seen whose was the face, and obeying 
the sign to be silent, he listened while the Beaver 
bent lower, and said in good English, “ Enemy, In- 
dians coming.” 

Bart rose on the instant and roused the doctor, 
who immediately awakened Maude, and obeying the 
signs of the Indian, they followed him into the 
shadow of the mountain, for the Beaver shook his 
head fiercely at the idea of attempting to defend the 
little camp. 

It all took place in a few hurried moments, and 
almost before they were half way to their goal there 
was a fierce yell, the rush of trampling horses, and 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


101 


a dark, shadowy body was seen to swoop down upon 
the camp. While before, in his excitement, Bart 
could realize his position, he found himself with the 
doctor and Maude beyond the narrow entrance and 
on the slope that seemed to lead up into the mount- 
ain. 

As soon as Maude was in safety, Bart and the doc- 
tor returned to the entrance, to find it well guarded 
by the Indians. 

Then came a sort of muster or examination of 
their little force, which, to Bart’s agony, resulted in 
the discovery that while all the Indians were pres- 
ent, and Harry was by their side, Joses, Sam and 
Juan were away. 

In the excitement, Bart did not realize why this 
was. Now he recalled that when he lay down to 
sleep the two offenders had been snoring loudly, 
and it was evident that they w r ere helplessly stupe- 
fied when the Indians came, and were taken. 

But Joses ? 

Of course he was at his post, and the question 
now was, would he remain undiscovered, or would 
the Indians find the hiding place of the horses, and 
after killing Joses, sweep them all away? 

The hours w r ore on, and though they could hear 
the buzz of many voices, and sometimes dark, 
shadowy forms could be made out away on the 
plains, the fugitives w r ere in dense shadow and re- 
mained unmolested till the break of day. 

By this time Bart had given Maude such comfort- 
ing intelligence as he could, bidding her be hopeful, 
for that these Indians must be strangers to the 
place, or they would have known of the way up the 
mountain, and searched it at once. 

“But if they find it in the morning, Bart,” she 
said, “ what then ?” 

“ What then ?” said Bart, with a coolness he did 


102 


IK THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


not feel. “ Why, then we shall have to kill all the 
poor wretches — that’s all.” 

Maude shuddered, and Bart returned to where the 
Beaver was at the opening, watching the place 
where the enemy had been plundering the wagon, 
and had afterwards stirred up the camp fire and 
were seated round. 

“ Joses was glad that he had put away the pow- 
der,” thought Bart, as he saw the glare of the fire. 
“ I almost begin to wish it had been left.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO, 


103 


CHAPTER XIII. 

TWO HORRORS. 

Morning at last, and from their hiding 1 place the 
fugitives could see that the Indians were in great 
numbers, and while some were with their horses, 
others were gathered together in a crowd about the 
tree trunk half way between the gate of the moun- 
tain, as Bart called it, and the camp. 

The greatest caution was needed to keep them- 
selves from the keen sight of the Indians, who had 
apparently seen nothing of the horses’ trail. But if 
the Indians should begin to examine the face of the 
rock, they must find both entries, and then it was a 
question of brave defense, though it seemed impos- 
sible but that numbers must gain the mastery in the 
end. 

“ Poor Joses !” thought Bart, and the tears rose to 
his eyes. “I’d give anything to be by his side, to 
fight with him and defend the horses.” 

Then he began to wonder how many charges of 
powder he would have, and how long he could hold 
out. 

“ A good many will fall before they do master 
him,” thought Bart, “ if he’s not captured already. 
I wonder whether they have Juan and Sam.” 

Just then the crowd about the post fell back, and 
the doctor put his glass to his eye, and then uttered 
a cry of horror. 


104 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


He glanced round directly to see if Maude had 
heard him, but she, poor girl, had fallen fast asleep 
in the niche where they had placed her, to be out of 
reach of bullet should firing begin. 

“ What is it, sir ?” cried Bart. “ Ah, I see, and it 
is Juan, is it not ?” 

“Yes,” said the doctor, using the glass, “ and Sam. 
They have stripped the poor fellows almost entirely, 
and strung them up to a tree.” 

“ Oh, yes,” cried Bart, in agony, “ I can see;” and 
he looked with horror upon the scene, for there, evi- 
dently already half dead, and their ankles bound, 
Juan and Sam were suspended by means of a lariat, 
bound tightly to their wrists, and securely twisted 
round the upper part of the old tree. The poor fel- 
lows’ hats and a portion of their clothes lay close by 
them, and as they hung there, inert and helpless, 
Bart and his companion saw the cruel, vindictive In- 
dians draw off to a short distance, and joining up in 
a close body, they began to fire at their prisoners, 
treating them as marks on which to try their skill 
with the rifle. 

The sensation of horror this scene caused was in- 
describable, and Bart turned to the doctor with a 
look of agony in his eyes. 

“ Quick !” he said; “ let us run out and save them.” 

The Indian who acted as interpreter spoke rapidly 
to the chief, who replied, and then the Indian turned 
to the doctor and Bart. 

“ The Beaver-with-Sharp-Teetli says if we want to 
go out to fight, they are so many we should all be 
killed. W"e must not go.” 

Twenty times over, the doctor raised his rifle, and 
as often let it fall, as he knew what the consequences 
of his firing would be. Encouraged by this act on 
the part of his elder, Bart did likewise, but the 
Beaver pressed the barrel down with his brown 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 105 

hand, shaking his head and smiling gravely the 
while. 

“ See !” ejaculated the doctor; “what’s that ?” 

They were all gazing intently at the tree where 
the firing was going on, and beyond it at the group 
of Indians calmly loading and firing, with a soft film 
of smoke floating away above their heads. All at 
once, just in their midst, there was a vivid flash of 
light, and the air seemed to be full of blocks of stone, 
which were driven up with a dense cloud of smoke. 
Then there was a deafening report, which echoed 
back from the side of the mountain; a trembling of 
the ground, as if there had been an earthquake, the 
great pieces of stone fell here and there; and then, 
as the smoke spread, a few Indians could be seen 
rushing hard towards where their companions were 
gathered with their horses, while about the spot 
where the earth had seemed to shoot forth flame, 
rocks and stones were piled up in confusion, mingled 
with the bodies of Indians. 

There was no hesitation on the part of survivors. 
The Great Spirit had spoken to them in His dis- 
pleasure, and those who had not been smitten seized 
their horses, those which had no riders now kept 
with them, and the whole band went over the plain 
at full speed. 

The doctor sent Bart back to bid Maude be in no 
wise alarmed, for the enemy were gone, but she 
must not leave the place where she was hiding for a 
while. 

Bart found her looking white and trembling with 
dread, but a few words satisfied her, and the lad ran 
back to join the doctor. Joses had now come out 
from his hiding place and was leaning upon his rifle. 

“ I am glad you are safe, Joses,” cried Bart. “ It 
is almost like a miracle that they didn’t find you, 
and that the explosion took place. It must have 


106 IN THE WILDS NEW MEXICO. 

been our keg of powder, Joses, that* you bid under 
the stones/’ 

“Think so, Master Bart?” said Joses, as if deeply 
astonished* 

“ Yes/’ cried Bart; “it must have been that.” 

“ Yes/' said the doctor. “ The wretches must have 
dropped a burning wad or something of that kind.” 

“ But it was horrible !” cried Bart. 

“Yes, horrible !” assented the doctor. 

“But it saved all of us as was left, boss,” said 
Joses, gruffly* “ They’d have found us out else, and 
served us the same as they did poor old Sam and poor 
old Juan*'’ 

“ Yes, it saved our lives, Joses, no doubt, and it 
Was as it were a miracle. But there, don’t let’s talk 
about it. We must take steps to bury those poor 
creatures, and that before my child comes out. Bo 
you think the enemy will come back?” he continued, 
turning to the interpreter. 

“ The Beaver-with-Sharp-Teeth says no*— not for 
days,” was the reply; and, willingly enough, the In- 
dians helped their white friends to enlarge the hole 
plowed out by the explosion of the powder keg, 
which was easily done by picking out a few pieces of 
rock, when there was ample room for the dead, who, 
after some hour or two’s toil, were buried beneath 
the stones. 

The remains of the two poor fellows, Juan and 
Sam, were buried more carefully, with a few simple 
rites, and then, saddened and weary, the doctor 
turned to seek Maude. 

Bart was about to follow him, when Joses took him 
by the sleeve. 

“I wouldn’t say anything to the boss, but I must 
tell you.” 

“ Tell me w T hat ?” 

“ About the explosion, Master Bart. I did it.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


107 


“You fired that powder and blew all those poor 
wretches to eternity!” cried Bart, in horror. 

“Deal more horrible if they’d killed Miss Maude.” 

“ Oh, hush, Joses !” cried Bart, excitedly. “Tell 
me, though, how did you manage it ?” 

“Well, you see. Master Bart, it was like this. I 
stood looking on at their deviltry till I felt as if I 
couldn’t bear it no longer, and then all at once I re- 
collected the powder, and I thought that if I could 
put a bullet through the keg it would blow it up, 
and them too.” 

“And did you, Joses ?” 

“Well, I did, but it took me a long while for it. 
I knew exactly where it was, but I couldn’t see it for 
the crowd of fellows round, and I daren’t shoot un- 
less I was sure, or else I should have brought them 
on to me like a shot.” 

“Of course! of course, Joses!” cried Bart, who 
was deeply interested. 

“ Well, I had to wait till I thought I should never 
get a chance, and then they opened right out, and I 
could see the exact spot "where to send my bullet, 
when I trembled so that I daren’t pull trigger, and 
when I could they all crowded up again.” 

“ But they gave you another chance, Joses ?” cried 
Bart, excitedly. 

“ To be sure they did, my lad, at last, and that 
time it was only after a deal of dodging about that 
there w^as any chance, and, laying my rifle on the 
rock, I drew trigger, saw the stones flash as the 
bullet struck, just, too, when they v'ere all cheering 
— the wretches ! — at v r hat they’d done to those tv T o 
poor fellows.” 

Bart promised to keep the matter a secret, and he 
went about for the rest of the day pondering upon 
the skill of Joses with the rifle. 

In the busy times that followed there was but little 


108 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


opportunity for dwelling upon the trouble. The 
doctor was full of the discovery and the necessity for 
taking steps to utilize its value, for now they -were 
almost helpless — the greater part of their ammuni- 
tion was gone; their force was w T eakened by the loss 
of two men; and at any moment the Indians might 
get over their fright and come back to bury their 
dead. If this were so, they would find that the task 
had been already done, and then they would search 
for and find the occupants of the camp. 

This being so, the doctor suddenly grew calm. 

“ I’ve made my plans,” he said, quietly. 

“ Yes ?” exclaimed Maude and Bart in a breath. 

“AVe must go straight back to our starting place, 
and then go on to Lerisco; and there I must get the 
proper authorizations from the Government, and 
afterwards organize a large expedition of people and 
bring them here at once.” 

He had hardly made this announcement when the 
Beaver came slowly up to stand with his follower, 
the interpreter, behind, and looking as if he wished 
to say something in particular. 

The doctor rose and pointed to a place where his 
visitor could sit down, but the chief declined. 

“ Enemy !” he said, sharply. “ Indian dogs !” 

Then he turned round quickly to the interpreter. 

“ The Beaver-witli-Sharp-Teeth says the Apaches 
will be back tonight to see why the earth opened and 
killed their friends.” 

“ Indeed ! So soon ?” said the doctor. 

“ The chief says we must go from here till the In- 
dian dogs have been, then we can come back.” 

“That settles it, Bart!” exclaimed the doctor. 
“ We’ll start at once.” 

The preparations needed were few, and an hour 
later they were retreating quickly across the plain, 
the coming darkness being close at hand to veil their 



bart’s first motion was to seize his gun, — Sec page 77. 






IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


Ill 


movements, so that when they halted to rest in the 
morning they were a long distance on their way, 
and sheltered by a patch of forest trees that looked 
like the remains of some tract of woodland that had 
once spread over the plain. 

It was deemed wise to wait till evening, and, tak- 
ing it in turns, they watched and slept till near sun- 
down. 

The Beaver had had the last watch, and he had 
announced that he had seen a large body of Apaches 
going in the direction of the canyon, but at so great 
a distance off across the plain that there was no need 
for alarm. 

They started soon afterwards, and after a very un- 
eventful but tedious journey they reached the spot 
where they had first encountered the Beaver and his 
followers. Here the Indians came to a halt; they did 
not care to go farther towards the home of the white 
man, but readily entered into a compact to keep 
watch near the Silver Canyon, and return two moons 
hence to meet the doctor and his expeditionary 
party, when they were once more on their way across 
the plains. 

The rest of the distance was got over in safety, 
and they rode at last into the town of Lerisco, where 
their expedition having got wind soon after they had 
started, their return was looked upon as of people 
from the dead. 

For here the doctor encountered several old 
friends and neighbors from their ranches, fifteen or 
even twenty miles from the tow r n, and they were all 
ready with stories of their misfortunes, the raids they 
had had to endure from the unfriendly Indians; and 
the doctor returned to his temporary lodgings that 
night, satisfied that he had only to name his discov- 
ery to gain a following of as many enterprising 
spirits as he wished to command. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO, 


112 

Dr. Lascelles had two or three interviews with the 
governor, obtained a concession of the right to work 
the mine in consideration of a certain percentage of 
silver being paid to the government; and this being 
all duly signed and sealed, he came away light 
hearted and eager to begin. 

His first care was to make arrangements for the 
staying of Maude in some place of safety; and he 
smiled to himself as he realized how easy this would 
be now that he was the owner of a great silver mine. 
It w r as simplicity itself. 

No sooner did Don Ramon, the governor, compre- 
hend what was required than an invitation came from 
his lady, a pleasant looking Spanisli-Mexican dame, 
who took at once to the motherless girl, and thus the 
difficulty was got over, both the governor and his 
wife declaring that Maude should make that her 
home. 

Then the doctor rode out to three or four ranches 
in the neighborhood and laid his plans before their 
owners, offering them such terms of participation 
that they jumped at the proposals. The result was 
that in a very short time no less than six ranches had 
been closed, the female occupants settled in the 
town, and their owners, with their wagons, cattle, 
mules, horses, and an ample supply of stores, were 
preparing for their journey to the Silver Canyon. 

One evening, however, Bart, w 7 ho was rather de- 
pressed at the idea of going v ithout his old compan- 
ion, Maude, although at the same time he could not 
help feeling pleased at the prospect of her remain- 
ing in safety, was returning to his lodgings, which 
he shared with Joses, when he overtook a couple of 
cattle breeders, old neighbors of the doctor, who 
were loudly talking about the venture. 

“I shouldn’t be a bit surprised,” said one, “if this 
all turns out to be a fraud.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


113 


“Oh, ho; I think it’s all right.” 

“But there have been so many cheats of this 
kind.” 

“True; so there have,” returned the other. 

“ And if the doctor has got us together to take us 
right out there for the sake of his own ends ?” 

“ Well, I shouldn’t care to be him,” said the other, 
“if it proves to be like that.” 

They turned down a side lane, and Bart heard no 
more. But this was enough to prove to him that the 
doctor’s would be no bed of roses if everything did 
not turn out to be as good as was expected. 

He reported this to the doctor, who only smiled, 
and hurried on his preparations. 

At last, with plenty of rough mining implements, 
blasting powder, and stores of all kinds, the doctor’s 
expedition started at daybreak one morning, in ample 
time to keep the appointment with the Beaver. 

“ I say, Master Bart,” said Joses, as he sat upon 
his strong horse side by side with Bart, watching 
their train go slowly hf, “ I think we can laugh at 
the Apaches now, my lad; while, when the Sharp- 
Tooth Beaver joins us with his dark skinned lighting 
men, we can give the rascals such a hunting as shall 
send ’em north with fleas in their ears !” 

“It’s grand!” cried Bart, rousing himself up, for 
he had been feeling rather low spirited at parting 
at parting from Maude, and it had made him worse 
to see the poor girl’s misery when she had clung to 
her father and said the last good by. Still there 
was the fact that the governor and his lady were ex- 
cellent people. 

And there sat Bart on his eager little horse, Black 
Boy, which kept on champing its bit and snorting 
and pawing the ground, shaking its head, and long- 
ing, after weeks of abstinence, for a long stretching 
gallop across the plains. 


114 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


There were men mounted on horses, men on mules, 
“ greasers” driving cattle or the baggage mules, some 
in charge of the wagons, and all well armed, eager 
and excited, as they filed by, a crowd of swarthy, 
poncho wearing idlers watching them with an aspect 
of good humored contempt and pity on their faces, 
as if saying to themselves, “Poor fools ! what a lot 
of labor and trouble they are going through to get 
silver and become rich, while we can be so much 
more happy and comfortable in our idleness and dirt 
and rags !” 

A couple of miles outside the town the mob of 
idlers to the last man had dropped off, and bright 
and excited, the doctor rode up in the cheery morn- 
ing sunshine. 

“Pm going to ride forward, Bart,” he cried, “ so as 
to lead the van and show the line of march. You 
keep about the middle, and mind there’s no strag- 
gling off to right or left. You, Joses, take the rear, 
and stand no tricks from stragglers. Every man is 
to keep his place and do his duty. Strict discipline 
is to be the order of the day, and unless we keep up 
our rigid training w r e shall be in no condition to en- 
counter the Indians when they come.” 


IN THE "WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


115 


CHAPTER XIV. 

THE THIRSTY DESERT. 

The journey was without adventure. Signs of In- 
dians were seen, and this made those of the train 
more watchful, but there was no encounter with the 
red men of the desert, till an alarm was spread one 
morning of a party of about twenty well mounted 
Indians being seen approaching the camp, just as it 
was being broken up for a farther advance toward 
the mountains. 

The alarm spread; men seized their rifles, and 
they were preparing to fire upon the swiftly ap- 
proaching troop, when Bart and Joses set spur to 
their horses, and went off at full gallop, apparently 
to encounter the enemy. 

But they had not been deceived. Even at a dis- 
tance Bart knew his friend, the Beaver, at a glance, 
and the defenders of the camp saw the meeting and 
the hearty hand shaking that took place. 

This was a relief, and the men of the expedition 
gazed curiously at the bronzed, well armed horse- 
men of the plains, who sat their wiry, swift little 
steeds as if they were part and parcel of themselves, 
when they rode up to exchange greetings. 

From that hour the Beaver’s followers took the 
place of the guards, leading the van and closing up 
the rear, as well as constantly hovering along the 
sides of the long wagon train, which they guarded 


116 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


as watchfully as if it were their own particular 
charge. 

The doctor placed implicit reliance in the chief, 
who guided them by a longer route, but which 
proved to be one which took them round the base 
of the two mountainous ridges they had to pass, 
and thus saved the adventurers a long and arduous 
amount of toil with the wagons in the rugged 
ground. 

At last, when they were well in sight of the flat 
topped mountain, and the doctor was constantly 
reining in his horse to sweep the horizon w r ith his 
glass in search of the Apaches, the chief rode up to 
say that he and his men were about to advance on 
a scouting expedition to sweep the country between 
them and the canyon, w r hile the train was to press 
on, always keeping a watchful lookout until their 
Indian escort returned. 

The Beaver and his men scoured off like the wind, 
and were soon lost to view, w T hile that night and the 
next day the long train moved slowly over the plain 
to avoid the dense clumps of prickly cactus and 
agaves, suffering terribly from thirst, for what had 
been verdant when Bart -was there last was now one 
vast expanse of dust, which rose thickly in clouds at 
the tramp of horse or mule. 

The want of water was beginning to be severely 
felt; and as they -went sluggishly on Bart -would 
have urged a halt for rest, only that the doctor was 
eager for them to get as well on their way as pos- 
sible. 

Night came at last, a wretched, weary night of 
intense heat; man and beast suffered horribly from 
thirst. The clouds had gathered during the night, 
and the thunder rolled in the distance, while vivid 
flashes of lightning illumined the plains, but no 
rain fell. When morning broke, after the most 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


117 


painful time Bart had ever passed, he found the 
doctor looking ghastly, his eyes bloodshot, his lips 
cracked, and that even hardy Joses was suffering to 
as great an extent. 

The people were almost in a state of mutiny, and 
ready to ask the doctor if he had dragged them to 
this terrible blinding waste to perish from thirst; 
while it was evident that if water was not soon 
reached half the beasts must fall down by the way. 

As it was, numbers of the poor animals were 
bleeding from the mouth and nostrils from the 
pricks received as they eagerly champed the various 
plants of the cactus family. 

“Let us push on,” said the doctor; “everything 
depends upon our getting on to that shallow lake, 
for there is no water on the way;” but with every 
desire to push on, the task became more laborious 
every hour — the cattle were constantly striving to 
stray off to right or left in search of something to 
quench their maddening thirst, while, go where he 
would, the doctor was met by fierce, angry looks and 
muttered threats. 

And so the journey went on all that day through 
the blinding, choking dust, and scorching heat, 
which seemed to blister and sting until it was al- 
most unbearable. 

“Keep it up, my lads,” Bart kept on saying. 
“ There’s water ahead. Not much farther now.” 

At last, towards evening, the sky began again to 
cloud over, and the mountain that had appeared dis- 
tant seemed, by the change in the atmosphere, to be 
brought nearer to them. 

Almost by magic, too, the wind fell. There was a 
perfect calm, and then it began to blow from the 
opposite quarter, at first in soft puffs, then as a 
steady, refreshing breeze, and instantly there was a 
commotion in the camp — the cattle set off at a lum- 


118 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


bering gallop; the mules, heedless of their burdens, 
followed suit; the horses snorted and strained at 
their bridles, and Joses galloped about, shouting to 
the teamsters in charge of the wagons, who were 
striving with all their might to restrain their horses : 

“Let them go, my lads; unhitch, and let them go, 
or they’ll have the wagons over.” 

“ Stampede ! stampede !” some of the men kept 
shouting, and all at once it seemed that the whole 
of the quadrupeds were in motion; for, acting upon 
Joses’s orders, the teams were unhitched, and away 
the whole body swept in a thundering gallop onward 
towards the mountain, leaving the wagons solitary 
in the dusty plain. 

For when the w r ind had turned, the poor suffering 
beasts had sniffed the soft moist air that had passed 
over the shallow lake, and their unerring instinct set 
them off in search of relief. 

There was no pause, and all the mounted men 
could do was to let their horses keep pace with the 
mules and cattle, only guiding them clear of the 
thickest part of the drove. And so they thundered 
on till the dusty plain w r as left behind, and green 
rank herbage and thickly growing water plants 
reached, through which the cattle rushed to the 
shallow water at the edge of the lake. 

But still they did not stop to drink, but rushed 
on and on, plashing as they went, till they were in 
right up to their flanks. Then, and then only, did 
they begin to drink, snorting and breathing hard, 
and drawing in the pure fresh water. 

The horses behaved the most soberly, contenting 
themselves with wading in to a respectable distance, 
and then drinking when the water was undisturbed 
and pure, as did their masters; the doctor, Joses, 
and Bart bending down and filling the little metal 
cups they carried again and again. 


m THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


119 


It was growing dark as they turned from tlie shal- 
low water of the lake, the mules following the horses 
placidly enough, and the lumbering cattle content- 
edly obeying the call of their masters, and settling 
themselves down directly to crop the rich rank 
grasses upon the marshy shores. 

A short consultation was held now, and the ques- 
tion arose whether they had been observed by In- 
dians, who might come down and try to stampede 
the cattle. 

The matter was settled by one half the men stay- 
ing to guard them, while the other half went back 
to fetch up the wagons, the mule drivers having 
plenty to do in collecting the burdens that had been 
kicked off, but which the mules submitted patiently 
enough to have replaced. 

Still it was long on towards midnight before the 
wagons had all been drawn up to the shores of the 
lake, whose soft moist grasses seemed like paradise 
to the weary travelers over the desolate, dusty 
plains; and no sooner had Bart tethered Black Boy, 
and seen him contentedly cropping the grass, than, 
forgetful of Indians, hunger, everything but the fact 
that he was wearied out, he threw himself down, 
and in less than a minute he was fast asleep. 

Waking with the bright sun shining over the 
waters of the lake, the cattle quietly browsing, and 
the well watered horses enjoying a thoroughly good 
feed, the troubles of the journey over the dreary 
plain was pretty well forgotten, and as fires were lit 
and meals prepared, there were bright faces around 
ready to give the doctor a genial “ good morning.” 

Soon after, those on the lookout, while the rest 
made a hearty meal to prepare them for the toil of 
the day, announced Indians, and arms were seized, 
while men stood ready to run to their horses and to 
protect their cattle. 


120 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


But there was no need for alarm, the new comers 
being the Beaver and his followers, who stated that 
they had come upon signs of Indians, and found 
that they had been by the mountain within the 
past day or two. But they had followed the trail, 
and found that their enemies had gone due north, 
following the course of the Great Canyon, and it 
was probable that they had finished their raid into 
these southern parts and would not return. 

The rest of the journey was soon achieved, and 
the wagons drawn up in regular order close beside 
the mountain, while, after due inspection of the 
cavernous place where Joses had remained con- 
cealed with the horses, it was decided as a first step 
to construct with rocks a semicircular wall, whose 
two ends should rest against the perpendicular 
mountain side. This would serve as a corral for the 
cattle, and also act as a place of retreat for a certain 
number to protect them, the horses being kept in 
Joses’s hole, as Bart christened the place. 

There was plenty of willing labor now that the 
goal had been reached, and a few of the principals 
had been with the doctor to inspect the vein of sil- 
ver, from which they came back enthusiastic to a de- 
gree. 

Leaving the greater part busy over the task of 
forming the corral, the doctor called upon Bart and 
Joses, with three or four of his leading followers, to 
make the ascent of the mountain. To this end a 
mysterious looking pole was brought from the doc- 
tor’s wagon, and given to one of the men to carry. 
A pick and some ropes and pegs were handed to 
Joses, Bart received a bag, and thus accoutered they 
started. 

“ Where are we going ?” said one of the party, as 
he saw that they were walking straight for the per- 
pendicular wall. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


121 


“ Up to the top of the mountain,” replied the doc- 
tor. 

“ Have you ever been up ?” the man asked, staring 
at him wonderingly. 

“No; but I believe the ascent will be pretty easy, 
and 1 have a reason for going.” 

“ Is he mad ?” whispered the man to Bart. “Why, 
nothing but a fly could climb up there.” 

“ Mad ! No,” replied Bart, smiling. “ Wait a bit 
and you’ll see.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t have believed there was a way 
through here 1” said the man, slapping his leg, and 
laughing heartily, as they reached the narrow slit, 
crept through, and then stood with the long slope 
above them ready for the ascent. “ It seems as if 
nature had done it all in the most cunning way, so 
as to make a hiding place.” 

“ And a stronghold and fort for us,” said Bart. 
“I think when once we get this place in order, we 
may set at defiance all the Indians of the plains.” 

“ If they don’t starve us out, or stop our supply 
of water,” said Joses, gruffly. “ Man must eat and 
drink.” 

By this time the doctor was leading the way up 
the long rugged slope, that seemed as if it had 
been carved by water constantly rushing down, 
though now it was perfectly dry. It was not above 
ten feet wide, and the walls were in places almost 
perpendicular. 

It was a toilsome ascent, for at varying intervals 
great blocks of stone barred the path, with here and 
there corresponding rifts; but a little labor enabled 
the party to surmount these, and they climbed on 
till all at once the path took a new direction, going 
back as it were upon itself, but always upward at a 
sufficiently stiff angle, so as to form a zigzag right 
up the face of the mountain. 


122 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“ It is one of the wonders of the world,” exclaimed 
the doctor, enthusiastically. 

“ It’s a precious steep one, then,” grumbled 
Joses. 

“ I can hardly understand it yet,” continued the 
doctor, “ unless there has been a tremendous spring 
of water up on high here. It seems almost impossi- 
ble for this path to be natural.” 

“ Do you think it was made by men, sir ?” said 
Bart. 

“It may have been, but it seems hardly possible. 
Some great nation may have lived here once upon a 
time, but even then this does not look like the work 
of man. But let us go on.” 

It was quite a long journey to -where the path 
turned again, and then they rested, and sat down 
to enjoy the sweet pure breeze, and gaze right out 
over the vast jdain, which presented a wondrous 
panorama even from where they were, though a 
far grander view awaited them from the top, which 
they at last set off to reach. 

At last, after a breathless ascent, Bart, who was 
in advance, sprang upon the top and uttered a loud 
cheer, but only to stop short as he gazed round in 
wonder at the comparatively level surface of the 
mountain, and the marvelous extent of the view 
around. 

The doctor led the way half round till he found 
what he considered a suitable spot near the edge 
on the northern side of the mountain. There being 
no need to fear the Indians any longer, he set Joses 
to work with the pick to clear out a narrow rift, 
into which the pole they had brought was lowered, 
and wedged up perpendicularly with fragments of 
rock, one of which Bart saw was almost a mass of 
pure silver; then staves were set against the bottom, 
and bound there for strength; then guy ropes 


m THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


123 


added, and secured to pegs; and lastly, as a defiance 
to the Indians, and a declaration of the place being 
owned by the government, under whose consent 
they had formed the expedition, the national flag 
was run up, amidst hearty cheers, and its folds blew 
out strongly in the breeze. 

“ Now,” said the doctor, “ we are under the pro- 
tection of the flag, and we can do as we please.” 

“ Don’t see as the flag will be much protection,” 
growled Joses; “but it’ll bring the Injuns down on 
us before long.” 

The doctor did not hear these words, for he was 
beginning to explore the top of the mountain and 
making plans for converting the place into a strong- 
hold. Bart heard them, however, and turned to the 
grumbler. 

“Do you think the Indians will notice the flag, 
Joses ?” he said. 

“Do I think the Injuns will notice it, Master 
Bart? Why, they can’t help noticing it. Isn’t it 
flap, flap, flapping there, and asking them to come 
as hard as it can ? Why, they’ll see that bit o’ rag 
miles and miles away, and be swooping down almost 
before we know where we are. Mark my words if 
they’ll not. We shall have to sleep with one eye 
open and the other not shut, Master Bart, that’s 
what we shall have to do.” 

“Well, we shall be strong enough now to meet any 
number,” said Bart. 

“Yes, if they don’t catch us just as we are least 
expecting it. Dessay the doctor knows best, but we 
shall never get much of that silver home on account 
of the Apaches.” 

“ Oh, yes, we shall, Joses,” said Bart, merrily. 
“ Wait a bit, and you will see that the Indians can 
be beaten oft as easily as possible, and they’ll soon 
be afraid to attack us when they find how strong 


124 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


we are. Perhaps they’ll be glad to make friends. 
Now come and have a look round.” 

They went on along the edge of the tremendous 
cliff till they came above the canyon, down into 
which Bart never seemed weary of gazing. For the 
place had quite a fascination for him, with its swift, 
sparkling river, beautiful wooded islands, and green 
and varied shores. 

The sides of the place, too, were so wondrously 
picturesque; here were weather stained rocks of fifty 
different tints; there rocks covered with lovely 
creepers, hanging in festoons or clinging dose to 
the stony crevices that veined the rocky face in 
every direction. The shelves and ledges and mossy 
nooks were innumerable, and every one, even at 
that great height, wore a tempting look that drew 
the lad towards it, and made him itch to begin the 
exploration. 

“Bart!” 

It was the doctor calling, and on the lad running 
to him it was to find that he was standing by a 
great chasm running down far into the body of the 
mountain, with rough shelving slopes by which it 
was possible to descend, though the task looked 
risky except to any one of the firmest nerve. 

“ Look down there, Bart,” said the doctor, rather 
excitedly; “ what do you make of it ?” 

Bart took a step nearer so as to get a clearer view 
of the rent, rugged pit, at one side of which was a 
narrow, jagged slit where the sunshine came 
through, illumining what would otherwise have 
been gloomy in the extreme. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


125 


CHAPTER XV. 

THE BUFFALO HUNT. 

How far the chasm descended it was impossible to 
see from its irregularity, the sides projecting in great 
buttresses here and there, all of grey rock, while 
what had seemed to be the softer portions had prob- 
ably crumbled away. Here and there, though, 
glimpses could be obtained of what looked like pro- 
found depths where all was black and still. 

“ What should you think this place must have 
been?” said the doctor, as if eager to hear the lad’s 
opinion. 

“ Wait a minute, sir,” replied Bart, loosening a 
great fragment of rock, which with some difficulty 
he pushed to the edge, and then, placing his foot to 
it, thrust it over, and bent forward to hear it fall. 

The distance before it struck was not great, for 
there was a huge mass of rock projecting some fifty 
feet below upon which the stone fell, glanced off, 
and struck against the opposite side, with the effect 
that it was again thrown back far down out of sight; 
but the noise it made was loud enough, and as Bart 
listened he heard it strike heavily six times; then 
there was a dead silence for quite a minute, and it 
seemed that the last stroke was when it reached the 
bottom. 

Bart was just about turning to speak to the doc- 
tor when there came hissing up a horrible echoing, 


126 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


weird sound, like a magnified splash, and they knew 
that far down at an immense depth the great stone 
had fallen into water. 

“ Ugh !” ejaculated Bart, involuntarily imitating 
the Indians. “ What a hole ! Why, it must be ten 
times as deep as this place is high. I shouldn’t care 
about going down.” 

“Horrible indeed, Bart; but what should you 
think ? Is this place natural or dug out ?” 

“Natural, I should say, sir,” replied Bart. “No- 
body could dig down to such a depth as that.” 

“ Yes, natural,” said the doctor, carefully scanning 
the sides of the place with a small glass. “ Originally 
natural, but this place has been worked.” 

“Worked? What, dug out?” said Bart. “Why, 
what for — to get water ?” 

“No,” said the doctor, quietly; “ to get silver. 
This has been a great mine.” 

“ But who would have dug it ?” eaid Bart, eagerly. 
“ The Indians would not.” 

“ The people who roughly made the zigzag way 
up to the top here, my boy.” 

“ But what people would they be, sir ? The Span- 
iards ?” 

“ No, Bart, I should say this was dug by people 
who lived long before the Spaniards, perhaps thou- 
sands of years. It might have been done by the 
ancient peoples of Mexico, or those who built the 
great temples of Central America and Yucatan — 
those places so old that there is no tradition of the 
time when they were made. One thing is evident, 
that we have come upon a silver region that was 
known to the ancients.” 

“Well, I am disappointed!” cried Bart. “I 
thought, sir, that we had made quite a new find.” 

“ So did I at first, Bart,” replied the doctor. “ But, 
at any rate, save to obtain a few scraps, the place 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


127 


has not been touched, I should say, for centuries. 
And even if this mine has been pretty nearly ex- 
hausted, there is ample down below there in the 
canyon, while this mount must be our fortress and 
our place for furnaces and stores.” 

They descended cautiously for about a couple of 
hundred feet, sufficiently far for the doctor to chip a 
little at the walls, and find in one or two places veins 
that ran right into the solid mountain, and quite 
sufficient to give ample employment to all the men 
without touching the great lode in the crack of the 
canyon side. And this being so, they climbed back 
to meet Joses, who had been just about to descend 
after them. 

“ You’ll both be killing of yourselves before you’re 
done, boss,” he said, roughly. “ No man ought to 
go down a place like that without a rope round his 
waist well held at one end.” 

“Well, it would have been safer,” said the doctor, 
smiling. 

“Safer? Yes,” growled Joses. “Send down a 
greaser next time; there’s plenty of them, and 
they aren’t much consequence. We could spare a 
few.” 

The doctor smiled, and, after continuing their 
journey round the edge of the old mine, they made 
their way to the zigzag descent, whose great regu- 
larity of contrivance plainly enough indicated that 
human hands had had something to do with it. 
Probably, when it was in use in the ancient ages, 
when some powerful nation had rule in the land, it 
might have been made easy of access by means of 
logs and balks of wood laid over the rifts from side 
to side. 

The descent was almost more arduous than the 
ascent, but there was no danger save such as might 
result from a slip or wrench through placing a foot 


128 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


in one of the awkward cracks. Once more down 
in the plain, where the camp was as busy as an ant 
hill, the doctor called his followers about his wagon, 
and formed a sort of council, as he proceeded to lay 
bis plans before them. 

The first was — as they were ready to defy the In- 
dians, and to fight for their position there, to make 
the mountain their fortress. In spite of the la- 
borious nature of the ascent, it was determined that 
the tents should be set up on the top, while further 
steps were taken to enlarge the interior of the open- 
ing as soon as the narrow entrance was passed, so as 
to allow of a party of men standing ready to defend 
the way against Indians who might force themselves 
in. 

This was decided on at once, and men were told off 
to do the work. 

Then it was proposed to build three or four stout 
walls across the sloping path, all but just room 
enough for a man to pass by. These would be ad- 
mirable means of defense to fight behind, if the 
enemy forced their way in past the first entry, and 
with these and a larger and stronger barrier at the 
top of the slope by the first turn, it was considered 
by the doctor that with ordinary bravery the place 
would be impregnable. 

So far so good; but then there were the horses and 
cattle, the former in the cavern-like stable, the latter 
in their stone walled corral. 

Here was a difficulty, for now, however strong 
their defense might be, they were isolated, and it 
would be awkward in case of attack to have two 
small parties of men detailed for the guarding of 
these places, which the Indians would be sure to at- 
tack in force, in place of throwing their lives away 
against the well defended mountain path. 

“Couldn’t we contrive a gallery along the face of 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


129 


the mountain, right along above the ravine and the 
stables, sir ?” said Bart. “ I think some stones might 
be loosened out, and a broad ledge made, too high 
for the Indians to climb up, and with a good wall of 
stones along the edge we could easily defend the 
horses.” 

“ A good idea, Bart, if it can he carried out,” said 
the doctor. “ Let’s go and see !” 

Inspection proved that this could easily be done 
so as to protect the horses, but not the corral, unless 
its position were altered, and it were placed close 
alongside of the cavern stable. 

After so much trouble had been taken in rearing 
this wall it seemed a great pity, but the men will- 
ingly set to work with some loosened stones from 
above, and levered them down with bars, these 
fallen stones coming in handy for building up the 
wall. 

Fineness of finish was not counted; a strong bar- 
rier which the cattle could not leap or throw down, 
if an attempt was made to scare them into a stam- 
pede, was all that was required, and so in a few days 
not only was this new corral strongly constructed, 
but the ledge projecting fifty feet above it in the side 
of the mountain had been excavated, and edged with 
a strong wall of rock. 

There was but little room, only advantage was 
taken of holes in the rock, which were enlarged here 
and there so as to form a kind of rifle pit, in which 
there was plenty of space for a man to creep and 
kneel down to load and fire at any enemy who should 
have determined to carry off the cattle. In fine, 
they had at last a strong place of defense, only to be 
reached from a spot about a hundred feet up the 
sloping wav to the summit of the mountain; and the 
road to and from it was free from observation if the 
defenders crept along on hands and knees. 


130 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


Beneath the entrance to this narrow gallery a very 
strong wall was built nearly across the slope, and at 
Bart’s suggestion a couple of huge stones were 
loosened in the wall just above, and a couple of crow- 
bars were left there ready to lower these still farther, 
so that they would slip down into the narrow open- 
ing left in case of emergency, and thus completely 
keep the Indians out. 

All these matters took a great deal of time, but 
the knowledge of the danger from the prowling 
bands of Indians always on the war path on the 
plains, and also that of the large treasure in silver 
that was within their reach, made the men work like 
slaves. 

Water had been found in a spring right at the top 
of the mountain, and after contriving a basin in the 
rock that it should fill, it was provided with an out- 
let, and literally led along a channel of silver down 
to where it could trickle along a rift, and then down 
by the side of the sloping paths to a rock basin dug 
and blasted out close to the entrance in the plain. 

This was a good arrangement, for they were thus 
independent of the lake upon the plain, or the neces- 
sity for contriving a way down to the river in the 
canyon. Attention had then to be given to the food 
supply, and this matter was mentioned to the Beaver. 

For Bart had suggested that no doubt the Indians 
would find buffalo for them, instead of passing their 
time playing the part of mounted scouts and herds- 
men when the cattle were driven to feed down in the 
rich pastures by the lake. 

The Beaver did not often smile, but when Bart 
tried to explain his wishes to him, that he should 
lead a little party out into the plains to shoot buffalo 
for the party, his stolid, warlike countenance began 
slowly to expand; there was a twinkle here and a 
prease there; his solemn, watchful eyes sparkled; 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 131 

then they flashed, and at last a look of joy overspread 
his countenance, and he said a few words eagerly to 
the interpreter. 

“ The Beaver-with-Sharp-Teeth,” began the latter 
slowly, “ says that it is good, and that we will go and 
hunt bison, for it is men’s work, while minding the 
grazing cattle here is only fit for squaws.” 

The Indians immediately began their preparations, 
which were marked by their brevity. Rifles and am- 
munition were examined, girths were tightened, and 
small portions of dried meat tied to the pad saddles 
ready for use if required, though it was hoped that 
a sufficiency of fresh meat would soon be obtained. 

Bart and Joses were eager to join the hunting 
party, and the doctor’s consent was readily given. 

Then, amidst a ringing cheer from the little crowd 
of lookers on, the bison hunters went off at full speed 
over the sandy plain, making for the left of the lake. 
As Bart turned in his saddle to gaze back, the camp, 
with its round topped wagons, the flat mountain, and 
the faintly shown track up to its summit, looked like 
some beautiful panorama, above which the great flag 
blew out in the brisk breeze, and flapped and waved 
its folds merrily, as if flaunting defiance to every In- 
dian on the plain. 

But as Bart gazed up at the flag he could not help 
thinking what a mere scrap of colored cloth it was, 
and what a very little the Indians would think of it 
if they determined to come down and attack the 
camp in their might. 

“Ease off a bit, Master Bart,” cried Joses, after 
they had been riding at full gallop for a couple of 
miles over the plains. “Whoo-hoop, my Injun 
friends ! Whoo-hoop !” 

“ Whoo-hoop ! whoo-hoop ! whoo-hoop !” yelled 
back the Indians, excitedly; and taking it as an in- 
centive to renewed exertion, they pressed the flanks 


132 IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 

of their horses, which responded freely, and they 
swept on more swiftly still. 

“ Tell Beaver to stop a bit,” cried Joses; “ you’re 
nighest to him, my lad.” And Bart was about to 
shout some words to the chief, who was on his other 
side, riding with eyes flashing with excitement, and 
every nerve on the throb, thoroughly enjoying the 
wild race after so long a time of inaction in the camp. 

Bart shouted to the Beaver to check his pace, but 
he was misunderstood, and the party swept on, 
whooping with delight, for all the w r orld like a pack 
of excited schoolboys just let loose for a holiday. 

“ We shall have our nags regularly blown, my lad,” 
panted Joses, “and then if we come upon unfriendly 
Injuns it’ll be the worse for us. Let you and me 
draw rein, then they’ll stop.” 

But tug as they would at the bridle their animals 
could not be made to halt. They had the bits be- 
tween their teeth and they flew on after the rest. 

“ It’s no use to try, my lad; the horses won’t stop 
and leave them others galloping on. You may train 
horses as much as you like, but there’s a lot of nature 
left in them, and that you can’t eddicate out.” 

“ Wliat do you mean ?” panted Bart, for it was 
hard w r ork to breathe while riding so fast. 

“ What do I mean, my boy ? Why, these horses is 
used to going in big droves together, and this puts 
’em in mind of it, and they like it. You try and pull 
Black Boy in. There, I told you so. See how he 
gnaws at his bit and pulls. There’s no stopping him, 
my lad, no more than there is mine. Let ’em go, my 
lad. Perhaps we mayn’t meet any one we don’t want 
to meet, after all.” 

Hardly had he spoken before the Beaver raised 
his arm, and his followers pulled up as if by magic, 
forming in quite a small circle close to him, with 
their horses’ heads almost touching him. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


133 


The Beaver signed to Bart and Joses to approach, 
and room was made for them to join in the little 
council which was to be held, and the result was 
that being now well out in the plains, far north of 
where they had originally traveled to reach the 
mountain, they headed off to the west, the Indians 
separating, and opening out more and more so as to 
cover wider ground with their keen eyes, while every 
little eminence was climbed so that the horizon could 
be swept in search of bison. 

“ Do you think we shall meet with any, Joses ?” 
asked Bart. 

“ What, huffier, my lad ? Well, I hope so. There’s 
never no knowing, for they’re queer beasts, and 
there’s hundreds here today, and tomorrow you may 
ride miles and miles, and not see a hoof. Why, I’ve 
known times when I’ve come upon a drove that was 
miles long.” 

“ Miles, Joses ?” 

“Yes, Master Bart; I’ve seen droves of ’em miles 
upon miles long, and if it wasn’t for the wolves and 
the Injuns, there wouldn’t be room for anything 
else.” 

“Are there so many as you say, Joses?” asked 
Bart. 

“ Not now, my lad. There used to be, but they’ve 
been killed down a deal. You see, the Injun lives 
on ’em a’most. He cuts up and dries the beef, and 
he makes himself bufffer robes of the skins — and 
very nice warm things they are in cold parts up in 
the mountains. I don’t know what the Injun would 
do if it wasn’t for the buffler. He’d starve. Not as 
that would be so very much consequence, as far as 
some tribes goes — Comanches and Apaches, and them 
sort as lives by killing and murdering every one they 
sees. Halloa ! what’s that mean ?” 

He pulled up and shaded his eyes with his hand, 


134 


IK THE WILDS OF HEW MEXICO. 


to gaze at where one of the Indians was evidently 
making some sign with his spear as he sat in a pe- 
culiar way, right on their extreme left, upon an 
eminence in the plain. 

Bart looked eagerly on, so as to try and learn what 
this signal meant. 

“ Oh, I know/’ said Joses, directly, as he saw the 
Beaver make his horse circle round. “ He can see a 
herd far out on the plain, and the Beaver has just 
signaled him back; so ride on, my lad, and we may 
perhaps come across a big run of the rough ones be- 
fore the day is out.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


135 


CHAPTER XVI. 

ALONE ON THE PLAINS. 

Joses was wrong, for no sign was seen of buffalo 
that day, and thus the next morning, after a very 
primitive kind of camp out in the wilderness, the 
Beaver took them in quite a different direction, 
parallel to the camp, so as to be within range, for 
distance had to be remembered in providing meat 
for so large a company. 

“ You must keep your eyes well skinned, Master 
Bart,” said Joses, with a grim smile, as they left the 
plain for an undulating country, full of depressions, 
most of which contained water, and whose gentle 
hills were covered with succulent buffalo grass. 
“ If you don’t, my lad, you may find yourself drop- 
ping down on to a herd of Apaches instead of 
buffaloes; and I can tell you, young fellow, that a 
buck Injun’s a deal worse thing to deal with than 
a bull baffler. You must keep a sharp lookout.” 

“ I’ll do the best I can, Joses, you may be sure.” 

Just then the Beaver came cantering up to them, 
gently lying right down upon his horse. 

‘‘Jump off, Master Bart,” cried Joses; “there’s 
buffler in sight, and we don’t want to scare ’em.” 

Setting the example, he slid from his horse and 
stood behind it, Bart imitating his acts, and they 
waited there till tlio Beaver came up and pointed to- 
ward an opening in the distance, where, for the mo- 
ment, Bart could see nothing; but watching atten- 


136 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


tively, he soon made out what seemed to be a dark 
patch moving slowly toward them. 

By this time the Beaver had signaled his followers 
to approach, and after giving them some instruc- 
tions, they all rode off together into a valley, the 
Beaver and his white companions iollowing them, so 
that in a few minutes they were out of sight of tho 
approaching herd of buffalo, which came steadily on 
in profound ignorance of there being enemies in their 
neighborhood. 

The country was admirably adapted for a hunt, 
the ground being unincumbered by anything larger 
than a scrubby kind of brush, while its many shallow 
valleys gave the hunters ample opportunity for rid- 
ing unseen until they had reached a favorable situ- 
ation for their onslaught. 

The Beaver was evidently a thorough expert in 
such a hunt as this, for he kept on dismounting and 
making observations, directing his followers here 
and there, and often approaching pretty near, then 
making retrograde movements, so as to bring them 
forward again in a more satisfactory position. 

His last arrangement was to place his following in 
couples about a hundred yards apart, parallel with 
the line of march of the herd, which was still invisible 
to Bart, though on the other side of the ridge in 
whose valley he was sheltered he could hear a strange 
snorting noise every now and then, and a low angry 
bellow. 

“ We’re to wait his signal, Master Bart, and then 
ride up the slope here, and go right at the huffier. 
Don’t be afraid, my lad, but pick out the one you 
mean to have, and then stick to him till you’ve 
brought him down with a bullet right through his 
shoulder.” 

“ I’ll try not to be afraid, Joses,” said Bart; “but 
I can’t help feeling a bit excited,” 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


137 


You wouldn’t be good for much if you didn’t, my 
boy,” said the frontiersman. “ Now, then, be ready. 
Is your rifle all right ?” 

“ Yes.” 

“Mind then; ride close up to your bull, and as he 
gallops off you gallop too, till you reach out with 
your rifle in one hand and fire.” 

“ But am I to ride right up to the herd, Joses ?” 

“ To be sure you are, my boy. Don’t you be afraid, 
I tell you. It’s only getting over it the first time. 
Just you touch Black Boy with your heels, and he’ll 
take you right in between a couple of the bulls, so 
that you can almost reach them on each side. Then 
you’ll find they’ll begin to edge off on both sides, 
and get farther and farther away, when, as I told 
you before, you must stick to one till you’ve got him 
down. Look out. Here we go !” 

The Beaver had made a quick signal, and in a mo- 
ment the hunting party began to ascend the slope 
leading to the ridge, beyond which Bart knew that 
the bison were feeding, and most probably in a simi- 
lar depression to the one in which the horsemen had 
been hidden. 

“Look out for yourself,” said Joses, raising his 
rifle, and nerving himself for the encounter; and 
wondering whether he really was afraid or no, Bart 
pressed his little cob’s sides with his heels, making 
it increase its. pace, while he, the rider, determined 
to dash boldly into the herd just as he had been 
told. 

At that moment Bart’s courage had a severe trial, 
for it seemed as if by magic that a huge bull sud- 
denly appeared before him, the monster having 
trotted heavily to the top of the ridge, exactly op- 
posite to Bart; and not ten yards apart the young 
hunter and the bull stopped short to gaze at each 
other. 


133 


IK THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“What a monster!” thought Bart, bringing his 
rifle to bear upon the massive head, with the tremen- 
dous shoulders covered with long coarse shaggy 
hair, while the short curved horns and great glow- 
ing eyes gave the bull so ferocious an aspect that 
upon first acquaintance it was quite excusable that 
Bart’s heart should quail and his hands tremble as 
he took aim, for the animal did not move. 

Just then Bart remembered that Joses had warned 
him not to fire at the front of a bison. 

“ He’d carry away half a dozen balls, my lad, and 
only die miserably afterward in the plain. What 
you’ve got to do is to put a bullet in a good place 
and bring him down at once. That’s good hunting. 
It saves powder and lead, makes sure of the meat, 
and don’t hurt the buffler half so much.” 

So Bart did not fire, but sat there staring up at 
the bull, and the bull stood above him pawing the 
ground, snorting furiously, and preparing himself 
for a charge. 

Truth must be told. If Bart had been left to him- 
self on this his first meetiug with a bison, especially 
as the beast looked so threatening, he would have 
turned and fled. But, as it happened, he was not 
left to himself, for Black Boy did not share his rider’s 
tremor. He stood gazing warily up at the bull for a 
few moments, and then, having apparently made up 
his mind that there was not much cause for alarm, 
and that the bison was a good deal of a big bully 
without a great deal of bravery under his shaggy 
hide, he began to move slowly up the slope, taking 
his master with him, to Bart’s horror and constern- 
ation. 

“ He’ll charge at and roll us over and over down 
the slope,” thought Bart, as he freed his feet from 
the stirrups, ready to leap off and avoid being 
crushed beneath his nag. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


139 


Nine yards — eight yards — six yards — closer and 
closer, and the bison did not charge. Then so near 
that the monster’s eyes seemed to flame, and still 
nearer and nearer, with the great animal tossing its 
head, and making believe to lower it and tear up the 
earth with one horn. 

“ If he don’t run we must,” thought Bart at last, 
as Black Boy slowly and cautiously took him up to 
within a yard of the shaggy beast, whose bovine 
breath Bart could smell now as he tossed his head. 

Then, all at once, the great fellow wheeled round 
and thundered down the slope, while, as if enjoying 
the discomfiture, Black Boy made a bound, cleared 
the ridge, and descended the other slope at full gal- 
lop close to the bison’s heels. 

All Birt’s fear went in the breeze that swept by 
him. He felt ready to shout with excitement, for 
the valley before him seemed to be alive with bison, 
all going along at a heavy lumbering gallop, with 
Jo3es and the Indians in full pursuit, and all as much 
excited as he. 

His instructions were to ride right in between two 
of the bison, single out one of them, and to keep to 
him till he dropped, and Bart saw nothing but the 
huge drove on ahead, with the monstrous bull whose 
acquaintance he had made thundering on between 
him and the main body. 

“ I must keep to him,” thought Bart — “ and I will 
tell I have shot him down. If I can,” he added, a 
few minutes later, as he kept on in the exciting 
chase. 

How long it lasted he could not tell, nor how far 
they went. All he knew was that after a long ride 
the bull nearly reached the main body; and, once 
mingled with them, Bart felt that he must lose him. 

But this did not prove to be the case, for Black 
Boy had had too good a training with cattle driving. 


140 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


No sooner did the bison plunge into the ranks of 
his fellows as they thundered on, than the gallant 
little horse made three or four bounds, and rushed 
close up to his haunch, touching him and the bisop. 
on his left, with the result that both of the shaggy 
monsters edged off a little, so that Bart was carried 
right in between them, and, as Joses had suggested, 
there was one moment when he could literally have 
kicked the animals on either side of his little horse. 

That only lasted for a moment, though, for both 
of the bison continued to edge away, with the result 
that the opening grew wider and wider, while, re- 
membering enough of his lesson, Bart kept close to 
the bull’s flank, Black Boy never flinching for a mo- 
ment. And at last the drove had scattered, so that 
the young hunter found himself almost alone on 
the plain, going at full speed beside his shaggy 
quarry, the rest of the herd having left him to his 
fate. 

And now the bull began to grow daring, making 
short rushes at horse and rider, but they were of so 
clumsy a nature that Black Boy easily avoided 
them, closing in again in the most pertinacious 
manner upon the bull’s flank as soon as the charge 
was ended. 

Bart remembered that there was something else 
to be done, and that he was not to go on riding be- 
side the bison, but to try and shoot it. Easier said 
than done, going at full gallop; but he brought his 
rifle to bear, and tried to get a good aim, but could 
not, for it seemed as if the muzzle was either jerked 
up towards the sky or depressed towards the 
ground. 

He tried again and again, but could not make 
sure of a shot; so, checking his steed a little, he al- 
lowed the bison to get a few yards ahead, and then 
galloped forward till he was well on the right side, 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


141 


where he could rest his rifle upon his horse’s with- 
ers, and, waiting his time, get a good shot. 

It might have been fired into the earth for all the 
effect it had, save to produce an angry charge, and 
it was the same with a couple more shots. Then, all 
at once, as Bart was reloading, the poor brute sud- 
denly stood still, panting heavily, made an effort to 
charge the little horse, stopped, plowed up the 
earth with its right horn, and then shivered and 
fell over upon its flank — dead ! 

Bart leaped from his horse in his excitement, 
and, running to the bison, jumped upon its shaggy 
shoulder, took off his cap, waved it above his head, 
and uttered a loud cheer. 

Then he looked round for some one to echo his 
cry, and he saw a widespread stretch of undulating 
prairie land, with some tufts of bush here, some 
tall grass there, and beneath his feet the huge game 
beast that he had fairly run down and shot, while 
close beside him Black Boy was recompensing him- 
self for his long run by munching the coarse brown 
grass. 

And that was all. 

Where were the hundreds of buffalo that had 
been thundering over the plain ? 

Where was Joses ? 

Where were the Indians ? 

These were the questions Bart asked as he gazed 
around him in dismay, for the excitement of his gal- 
lop was over now, and, though they wanted meat so 
badly, he felt half sorry that he had shot the poor 
beast that lay stiffening by his side. 

He realized that he was alone in that vast plain — 
that he had galloped on for a long while without 
noticing in which direction he had gone. Then, 
half stunned, he fully realized that he was lost. 

If he fired his rifle or made a fire he might bring 


142 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO, 


down Indians upon him, and that would be worse 
than being lost, so he determined to wait patiently 
until he was able to see more of his party. No 
sooner had he come to this determination than he 
cheered up, for he recollected directly that the Bea- 
ver, or some one or other of his men would be sure 
to find him by his trail, even though it had been 
among the trampling hoof marks of the bison. The 
prints of a well shod horse would be unmistakable, 
and with this thought he grew more patient, and 
waited on. 

It was towards evening, though, before he had 
the reward of his patience in seeing the figure of a 
mounted Indian in the distance; and even then it 
gave no comfort, as he felt sure that it might be an 
enemy, for it appeared to be in the very opposite di- 
rection from that in which he had come. 

Bart’s first idea was to go off at a gallop, only he 
did not know where to go, and after all this might 
be a friend. 

Then another appeared, and another; and dis- 
mounting, and turning his horse and the bison into 
bulwarks, Bart stood with his rifle resting ready for 
a shot should these Indians prove to be enemies, and 
patiently awaited them as they came on. 

This they did so quickly and full of confidence, 
that there was soon no doubt as to who they were, 
and Bart at last mounted again, and rode forward to 
meet them . 

The Indians came on, waving their rifles above 
their heads, and no sooner did they catch sight of 
the prize the lad had shot than they gave a yell of 
delight; and then, forgetting their customary sto- 
lidity, they began to chatter to him volubly in their 
own tongue, as they flung themselves from their 
horses, and began to skin the bison as it lay. 

They had not been at work above an hour before 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


143 

a couple more Indians came into sight, and soon af- 
ter, to his great delight, Bart recognized Joses and 
the Beaver coming slowly over a ridge in the dis- 
tance, and he cantered off to meet them at once. 

“ Thought we lost you, Master Bart,” cried Joses, 
with grim smile. “Well, how many bufflers did you 
shoot?” 

“ Only one,” replied Bart, “but it was a very big 
fellow.” 

“ Calf ?” asked Joses, laughing. 

“No; that great bull that came over the ridge.” 

“You don’t mean to say that you ran him down, 
lad, and shot him, do you ?” cried Joses, excitedly. 

“ There he lies, and the Indians are cutting him 
up,” said Bart, quietly. 

Joses pressed his horse’s side with his heels, 
and went off at a gallop to inspect Bart’s prize, 
coming back in a few minutes smiling all over his 
face. 

“ He’s a fine one, my lad. He’s a fine one, Master 
Bart — finest one shot today. I tell you what, my 
lad, if I had shot that bull I should have thought 
myself a lucky man.” 

As he spoke he pointed to the spot, and the Bea- 
ver cantered off to have his look, and he now came 
back ready to nod and say a few commendatory 
words to the younger hunter, whom they considered 
to have well won his spurs. 

The result of the first encounter with the bison 
was that nine were slain, and for many hours to 
come the party were busy cutting up the meat into 
strips, which were hung in the sun to dry. 

Then four of the Indians went slowly off towards 
the miners’ camp at the mountain, their instructions 
being to come back with a couple of wagons, 
which Joses believed they would be able to fill next 


144 


itf THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. . 


“ How far ao you think we are from the camp ?” 
Etsked Bart. 

“’Bout fifteen miles or so; no more,” replied 
Joses. “ You see the run after the bison led us 
down towards it, so that there isn’t so far to go.” 

“ Why, I fancied that we were miles upon miles 
away,” cried Bart; “regularly lost in the wilder- 
ness.” 

“Instead of being close at home, eh, lad? Well, 
we shall have to camp somewhere out here to- 
night, so we may as well pick out a good place.” 

“ But where are the other Indians ? ’ as Bart. 

“ Cutting up the huffier we killed,” replied Joses. 

“Far away?” 

“ Oh, no, mile or so. We’ve done pretty well, my 
lad, for the first day. only we want such a lot to fill 
so many mouths.” 

A suitable place was selected for the camp, down 
in a sheltered hollow, where a fire was lit, and some 
bison meat placed upon sticks to roast. r lhe miss- 
ing Indians seemed to be attracted by the odor, for 
just as it was done they all came straight up to 
camp ready to make a hearty meal, in which their 
white companions were in no wise behindhand. 

“Not bad stuff,” said Joses, after a long space, 
during which he had been too busy to speak. 

“I never ate anything so delicious,” replied Bart, 
who, on his side, was beginning to feel as if he had 
had enough. 

“Ah, there’s worse things than roast huffier 
hump,” said Joses; “ and now, my lad, if I was you 
I’d take as big and as long asleep as I could, for we 
must be off again before daylight after the herd.” 

“Shall we catch up to them again, Joses?” asked 
Bart. 

“ Catch up to them ? Why, of course, they haven’t 
gone far.” 


IN THE WILD^ OP NEW MEXICO. 


145 


A quarter of an hour later Bart was fast sleep, 
dreaming that he was hunting a bull bison ten times 
as big as the one he had that afternoon shot, and 
that after hunting it for hours it suddenly turned 
round and began to hunt him, till he became so 
tired that he lay down and went off fast asleep, 
when, to his great disgust, when he was so weary, 
Joses came and began to shake him by the shoulder, 
saying: 

“ Come, Master Bart, lad, wake up. The buffler’s 
been coming close in to camp during the night.” 

It was nearly day, and Bart jumped up, aston- 
ished that he could have slept so long — that is to 
say, nearly since sundown on the previous evening. 

A good fire was burning, and buffalo steaks were 
sizzling and spurting ready for tbeir repast, while 
the horses were all standing together beneath a 
little bold bluff of land left sharp and clear by the 
action of a stream that doubtless flowed swiftly 
enough in flood time, but was merely a thread of 
water now. 

The party were settling down to their meal, for 
which, in spite of the previous evening’s perform- 
ance, Bart felt quite ready, Avhen the horses sud- 
denly began to snort and show a disposition to 
make a stampede, for there Avas a rushing noise as 
of thunder. As the Indians rushed to their horses’ 
heads, and Bart made for Black Boy, thinking that 
there must be a flood rolling down from the hills, he 
caught glimpses of what \vas amiss. 

For he could see over the edge of the scarped 
bank beneath which they had made their fire, that 
the plain Avas literally alive with bison, which, in 
some mad fit of dread, Avere in headlong flight, and 
their course would bring them right over the spot 
where the party was encamped. 

The Beaver saw it, and, prompt in action, he made 


146 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


his plans. Signing to several to come to his side, 
while the rest held the horses, he leaped upon the 
edge of the stream just as the bison were within a 
hundred yards, and Bart and Joses followed him. 
Then, as the huge herd was about to sweep over 
them, they uttered a tremendous shout, and all 
fired together right in the center of the charging 
herd. 

Bart set his teeth, feeling sure that he would be 
run down and trampled to death, but the effect of 
the sudden and bold attack was to make the herd 
separate. It was but a mere trifle, for the bison 
were so packed together that their movements were 
to a great extent governed by those behind. But 
still they did deviate a little, those of the front rank 
swerving in two bodies to right and left, and that 
saved the little party. 

Bart had a sort of confused idea of being almost 
crushed by shaggy quarters, of being in the midst 
of a sea of tossing horns and dark hair, with lurid 
e3 r es glaring at him; then the drove was sweeping 
on, some leaping down into tbe stream bed and 
climbing up the opposite side, others literally tum- 
bling down headlong, to be trampled upon by those 
which followed. Then the rushing noise began to 
die away, for the herd had swept on. They had 
left a couple of their number shot dead by the dis- 
charge of rifles, and lying in the river, while an- 
other had fallen a few hundred yards farther on in 
the track of the flight. 

Fortunately the horses had been held so closely 
up to the bluff that they had escaped, though sev- 
eral of the bison had been forced by their compan- 
ions to the edge, and had taken the leap, some ten 
feet, into the river bed below. 

The worst part of the adventure revealed itself to 
Bart a few moments later when he turned to look 


IN THE WILH£ OF NEW MEXICO. 


147 


for Joses, whom he found rubbing his head wofully 
beside the traces of their fire, over which the bison 
had gone in enormous numbers, with the result that 
the embers had been scattered, and every scrap of 
the delicious meat trampled into the sand. 

“ Never mind, Joses !” cried Bart, bursting out 
laughing, “ there’s plenty more meat cut up.” 

“ Plenty more !” growled Joses; “and that all so 
nicely done ! As if there wasn’t room enough any- 
where else on the plain without their coming right 
over us !” 

“What does the Beaver mean?” cried Bart just 
then, noticing that the chief was talking excitedly 
with his warriors. 

“Mean? Yes; I might have known as much. 
He thinks there’s Injuns somewhere — that they have 
been hunting the buffler and made ’em stampede. 
We shall have to be off, my lad. No breakfast this 
morning.” 

It was as Joses said. The Beaver was of opinion 
that enemies must be near at hand, so he sent out 
scouts to feel for the danger, and no fire could be 
lighted lest it should betray their whereabouts to a 
watchful foe. 


148 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER XVH. 

IN THE CANYON. 

A long period of crouching down in the stream bed 
ensued, and as Bart waited he could not help think- 
ing that their hiding place in the plain was, as it 
were, a beginning of a canyon like that by the moun- 
tain, and might, in the course of thousands of years, 
be cut down by the action of flowing water till it was 
as wide and deep. 

At last, first one and then another scout came in, 
unable to find a trace of enemies; and, thus en- 
couraged, a fire was once more made and meat 
cooked, while the three bison slain that morning 
were skinned and their better portions cut away. 

The sun was streaming down with all its might as 
they once more went off over the plain in search ol 
the herd; and this search was soon rewarded, the 
party separating, leaving Bart and Joses together 
to ride after a smaller herd about a mile to their 
left. 

As they rode nearer, to Bart’s great surprise, the 
herd did not take flight, but huddled together, with 
a number of bulls facing outwards, presenting then- 
horns to the enemies, tossing and shaking their 
shaggy heads and pawing up the ground. 

“ Why don’t they rush off, Joses?” asked Bart. 

“ Got cows and calves inside there, my boy,” re- 
plied the frontiersman. “ They can’t go fast, so the 
bulls have stopped to take care of them.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


149 


“Then it would be a shame to shoot them!” 
cried Bart. “Why, they are braver than I thought 
for.” 

“Not they,” laughed Joses. “Not much pluck in 
a bison, my lad, that I ever see. Why, you might 
walk straight up to them if you liked, and they’d 
never charge you.” 

“ I shouldn’t like to try them,” said Bart, laugh- 
ing. 

“ Why not, my lad ?” 

“ Why not ? Do you suppose I want to be tram- 
pled down and tossed ?” 

“ Look here, Master Bart. You’ll trust me, won’t 
you ?” 

“ Yes, Joses.” 

“You know I wouldn’t send you into danger, 
don’t you ?” 

“ Of course, Joses.” 

“ Then look here, my lad. I’m going to give you 
a lesson if you’ll learn it.” 

“Very well, go on; I’m listening. I want to learn 
all I can about them,” replied Bart, as he kept on 
closely watching the great fierce, fiery eyed bison 
bulls as they stamped and snorted and pawed the 
ground, and kept making feints of dashing at their 
approaching enemies, who rode towards them at a 
good pace. 

“I don’t want you to listen, my lad,” said Joses; 
“ I want you to get down and walk right up to the 
huffier bulls there and try and lay hold of their 
horns.” 

“ But they would charge me, Joses,” said Bart un- 
easily. 

“ Did I tell you right about ’em before,” said Joses, 
“ or did I tell you wrong, my lad ?” 

“ You told me right; but you might be wrong about 
them here/’ 


150 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“ You let me alone for that,” replied Joses, gruflty. 
“ I know what I am saying. Now, then, will you get 
down and walk np to ’em, or must I ?” 

For answer, Bart slipped off his horse and cocked 
his rifle. 

“ Don’t shoot till they’re turning round, my lad,” 
said Joses; “and then give it to that big young bull 
in the middle there. He’s a fine one, and we must 
have meat for the camp.” 

“ But it seems a pity; he looks such a brave young 
fellow,” said Bart. 

“Never mind; shoot him. All the other bulls 
will be precious glad, for lie’s the tyrant of the 
herd, and leads them a pretty life. Now then, on 
you go.” 

They were now some sixty yards from the herd, 
and no sooner did Bart take a step forward than 
Joses leaped lightly from his horse and rested his 
rifle over the saddle ready for a sure shot when he 
should see his chance. 

Bart tried to put on a bold front, but he felt very 
nervous and walked cautiously toward the herd, 
where ten or a dozen bulls faced him, and now 
seemed to be furious, snorting and stamping with 
rage. 

But he walked on, gaining courage as he went; but 
ere he had gone half a dozen steps six of the bulls 
made a headlong charge at him, and Bart stood still, 
ready to fire. 

“How stupid I was!” he said to himself. “They’ll 
go right over me;” and with his heart beating heavily, 
he felt that he must turn and run. 

“Goon, my lad, go!” shouted Joses, encourag- 
ingly; and, in spite of himself, and as if bound to 
obey orders, the lad took a step forward again, when, 
to his utter amazement, the bison bulls, now not 
twenty yards away, stopped short, shook their heads 


IN THE WILES OE NEW MEXICO. 


151 


at him, made some impotent tosses in the air, pawed 
up a little grass, and then turned altogether, and 
trotted back to take up their old position in front of 
the herd. 

“ Ha, ha, ha !” laughed Joses behind him. “ What 
did I tell you? Go on, my lad; you’ve got more 
heart than a bison.” 

This emboldened Bart, who went steadily on, re- 
ducing the distance between him and the herd; and 
it was a curious sensation which came upon the lad 
as he walked nearer and nearer to the furious look- 
ing beasts. 

Then his heart gave a tremendous throb, and 
seemed to stand still, for, without warning, and 
moved as if by one impulse, the bison charged again, 
but this time not half the distance; and as Bart did 
not run from them, they evidently thought that some 
one ought to flee, so they galloped back. 

Bart was encouraged now, and began to feel 
plenty of contempt for the monsters, and, walking 
more swiftly, the beasts charged twice more, the last 
time only about the length of their bodies, and this 
was when Bart was so near that he could almost feel 
their hot moist breath. 

This was the last charge, for as they turned the 
leading bull evidently communicated his opinion 
that the young visitor was a stupid kind of being, 
whom it was impossible to frighten, and the whole 
herd set off at a lumbering gallop; but as they did 
so two rifle shots rang out, and two bulls hung back 
a little, evidently wounded. 

Joses led up Bart’s horse as the lad reloaded, and 
put the rein in his hand. 

“ There, off after your own bull, my lad ! It was 
bravely done. I’m off after mine.” 

Then they separated, and after a short gallop Bart 
reached his quarry, and, better able now to manage 


152 


IN THE WILES OF NEW MEXICO. 


his task, he rode up on its right side, and a well 
placed bullet tumbled the monstrous creature over 
on the plain, dead. 

Joses had to give two shots before he disabled his 
own bison, but the run was very short: and when 
Bart and he looked round they were not above a 
couple of hundred yards apart, and the Beaver and 
a couple of Indians were cantering toward them. 

That evening their messengers returned with a 
couple of the white men and two wagons, which were 
taken in triumph next morning to the camp, heavily 
laden with bison meat. As they came near the 
mountain Bart drew rein to stay and watch the cur- 
ious sight before him. Evidently in pursuance of 
the doctor’s idea to make the top of the mountain 
the stronghold of the silver adventurers, there was 
quite a crowd of the people toiling up the path on 
the mountain, all laden with packages and the var- 
ious stores that had been brought lor the adventure. 

“Been pretty busy since we’ve been gone, Master 
Bart,” said Joses, grimly. “ Won’t they come scuf- 
fling down again when they know there’s meat ready 
for sharing out! ” 

But Joses was wrong, for the meat was not shared 
out down in the plain, but a second relay of busy 
hands was set to work to carry the store of fresh 
food right up the mountain side to a tent that had 
already been pitched on the level top, while as soon 
as the wagons were emptied they were drawn up in 
rank along with the others close beneath the wall 
of rock. 

The doctor had not lost any time.. Tents had been 
set up, and men were busy raising sheds of rough 
stone which were to be roofed over with poles. But 
at the same time he had had men toiling away in 
ojDening up a rift that promised to yield silver pretty 
bounteously, for the ancient mine seemed hardly a 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


153 


place now, being dangerous, and the principal parts 
that were easy of access apparently were pretty well 
worked out. 

This was something of a disappointment, but a 
trifling one, for the mountain teemed with silver, and 
then there was the canyon to explore. 

This the doctor proposed to examine on the day 
following Bart’s return, for the services of the chief 
would be required to find a way down, unless the de- 
scent was to be made by ropes. 

The Beaver and his interpreter were brought to 
the doctor’s tent, and the matter being explained, 
the Indian smiled and expressed his willingness to 
show them at once; so, a few preparations having 
been made, and some provisions packed in case the 
journey should prove long, Bart, the doctor, Joses, 
and the interpreter started, leaving the Beaver in 
front to lead the way. 

He started off in a line parallel to the canyon, as 
it seemed to Bart, and made for a patch of good sized 
trees about half a mile from the mountain. Upon 
reaching this they found that the great river chasm 
had curved around, so that it was not above a hun- 
dred yards away, and Bart began to think that per- 
haps it would not prove to be so precipitous there. 

The Beaver, seeing his eagerness, smiled and nod- 
ded, and thrusting the bushes aside, he entered the 
patch of dense forest, which was apparently about 
half a mile in length, running with a breadth of half 
that distauce along the edge of the canyon. 

The interpreter followed, and after a few minutes 
they returned to say that no progress could be made 
in that direction, so they re-entered the forest some 
fifty yards lower, and where it looked less promising 
than before. 

The chief, however, seemed to be satisfied, and, 
drawing his knife, he hacked and chopped at the pro- 


154 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


jecting vines and thorns so as to clear a way for 
those who followed; till, after winding in and out 
for some time, he came at length to what seemed 
little more than a crack in the ground about a yard 
wide, and pretty well choked up with various kinds 
of growth. 

At the first glance it seemed impossible for any 
one to descend into this rift, but the interpreter 
showed them that it was possible by leaping down, 
and directly after there was a loud, rattling noise, 
and an extremely large rattlesnake glided out of the 
rift on to the level ground. It was making its es- 
cape, when a sharp blow from the chiefs knife di- 
vided it nearly in two, and he finished his task by 
crushing its head with the butt of his rifle. 

“ We must be on the lookout, Bart,” said the doc- 
tor, “if these reptiles are in any quantity;” and as 
the Beaver leaped down he followed, then came Bart, 
and Joses closed up the rear. 

“I shall get all the sarpents,” he grumbled. “You 
people will disturb them all, and they’ll do their 
stinging upon me.” 

Then the descent became so toilsome that conver- 
sation ceased, and nothing was heard but the crack- 
ling of twigs, the breaking off of branches, and the 
sharp rustling noise that followed as the travelers 
forced their way through the bushes. 

This lasted for about fifty yards, and then the de- 
scent became very rapid, and the trees larger and 
less crowded together. The rift widened, too, at 
times, but only to contract again; and then its sides 
so nearly approached that their path became terribly 
obscure, and without so energetic a guide as they 
possessed it would have required a stout hearted 
man to proceed. 

Every here and there they had to slide down the 
rock perhaps forty or fifty feet; then there would be 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


155 


a careful picking* of the way over some rugged stones, 
and then another slide down for a while. 

Once or twice it seemed as if they had come to a 
full stop, the rift being closed up by fallen masses of 
earth and stones; but the Beaver mounted these 
boldly, as if he knew of their existence, and lowered 
himself gently down the other side, waiting to help 
the doctor, for Bart laughingly declined, preferring 
as he did to leap from stone to stone, and swing him- 
self over cracks that seemed almost impassable. 

“ This is nature’s work, Bart,” the doctor said, as 
he paused to wipe his streaming face. “No former 
inhabitants ever made this. It is an earthquake split, 
I should say.” 

“ But it might be easily made into a good path, 
sir,” said Bart. 

“It might be made, Bart, but not easily, and it 
would require a great deal of engineering to do it. 
How dark it grows ! You see, nothing hardly can 
grow down here except these mosses and little 
fungi.” 

“Is it much farther, sir?” cried Bart. 

“ What ! are you tired, my lad ?” 

“No, sir; not I. Only it seems as if we must be 
near the bottom of the canyon.” 

“ No, not yet,” said the Beaver in good English, 
and both the doctor and Bart smiled, while the chief 
seemed pleased at his advance in the English tongue 
being noticed. “Long down — long down,” he said 
in continuation. 

“The Beaver- with-Sharp-Teeth tells the white 
chief and the little boy chief that it is far yet to the 
bottom of the way to the rushing river of the moun- 
tain,” said the interpreter. Bart felt as if he should 
like to kick him for calling him a “ little boy chief ;” 
but the stoical Indian calmly and indifferently al- 
lowed the angry looks he received to pass, and fol- 


156 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


lowed the party down as they laboriously stepped 
from stone to stone. 

“ There’s a pretty good flush o’ water here in rainy 
times, boss,” said Joses. “See how all the earth has 
been washed out. Shouldn’t wonder if you found 
gold here.” 

“ I ought to have thought of that, Joses,” replied 
the doctor, as he proceeded to examine the crevices 
of the rock over which he was walking as well as he 
could for the gloom and obscurity of the place, and 
at the end of five minutes he uttered a cry of joy. 
“Here it is !” he exclaimed, holding up two or three 
rounded nodules of metal. “No; I am wrong;” he 
said. “This light deceives me; it is silver.” 

To his surprise the Beaver took them from his 
hand with a gesture of contempt, and threw the 
pieces away, though they would have purchased him 
a new blanket or an ample supply of ammunition at 
Lerisco or any other southern town. 

“ Wait,” he said, airing his English once more. 
“ Plenty ! plenty !” and he pointed down toward the 
lower part of the narrow crevice or crack in the rock 
along which they were passing. 

“ Go on, then,” said the doctor, and once more 
they continued their descent, which grew more diffi- 
cult moment by moment, and more dark and wild 
and strange, 

At last there came a pleasant rushing sound, which 
Bart knew must be that of the river. Then there 
was the loud song of a bird, which floated up from 
far below, and then all at once a pale light appeared 
on the side of the rocks, which were now so near to- 
gether that the sides in places nearly touched above 
their heads. 

Five minutes’ more arduous descent, and there 
was glistening wet moss on the rocks, and the light 
was stronger, while the next minute the pure, clear 


IK THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


157 


light of day flashed up from an opening that seemed 
almost at their feet — an opening that was almost 
carpeted with verdant green, upon which, after 
dropping from a rock some ten feet high, they stood, 
pausing beneath an arch of interweaving boughs that 
almost hid the entrance to the rift, and there they 
stood, almost enraptured by the beauty of the scene. 

For the bottom of the canyon had been reached, 
and its mighty walls rose up sheer above their heads, 
appearing to narrow towards the top, though this 
was an optical delusion. All was bright and glor- 
ious in the sunshine. The trees and shrubs were of 
a vivid green, the grass was brilliant with flowers; 
and running in serpentine waves through the middle 
of the lovely prairie that softly sloped down to it on 
either side, and whose sedges and clumps of trees 
dipped their tips in its sparkling waters, was the 
river, dancing and foaming here over its rocky bed, 
there swirling round and forming deep pools, while 
in its clear waters, as they approached, Bart could 
see the glancing scales of innumerable fish on its 
sun illumined shallows. 

Hot and weary with their descent, the first act of 
all present was to dip their cups into the pure clear 
water. As soon as their feverish thirst was allayed, 
the doctor proceeded to test the sand of the river to 
see if it contained gold, while Bart, after wondering 
why a man who had discovered a silver mine of im- 
mense wealth could not be satisfied, went wandering 
off along the edge of the river, longing for some 
means of capturing the fish, whose silver scales 
flashed in the sunshine. 

Sometimes he was able to leap from rock to rock 
that stood out of the river bed, and formed a series 
of barriers, around which the swift stream fretted 
and boiled, rushing between them in a series of cas- 
cades; and wherever one of these masses of water 


158 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


worn stone lay in the midst of the rapid stream, Bart 
found that there was always a deep, still, transparent 
pool behind; and he had only to approach softly, 
and bend down or lie upon his chest, with his head 
beyond the edge, to see that this pool was the home 
of some splendid fish, a very tyrant that was ready 
to pounce upon everything that was swept into the 
still water. 

“ I wish we were not bothering about gold and 
silver,” thought Bart. 

He had rambled down the river so rapt in the 
beauties around him that he forgot ail about the 
doctor and his search for the precious metals. All 
at once, as he was seated out upon a mass of stone 
by the river side, it struck him that it would be very 
pleasant to wade across a shallow to where a reef of 
rocks stood out of the water, so placed that as soon 
as he reached them he could leap from one to the 
other and settle himself down almost in the very 
middle of the river. There he determined to wait 
his chance and see if he could not shoot two or three 
of the largest trout for their meal that night. 

The plan was no sooner thought of than Bart pro- 
ceeded to put it in execution. 

He waded the shallow pretty easily, though he 
could not help wondering at the manner in which 
his feet sank down into the soft sand, which seemed 
to let them in right up to the knees at once, and 
then to close so tightly round them that he seemed 
to have been thrusting his legs into leaden boots. 
However, he dragged them out, reached the first 
rock of the barrier or reef, and stood for a few min- 
utes enjoying the beauty of the scene, while the 
stream rushed by on either side with tremendous 
force. 

The next stone was a good five feet away, with a 
deep glassy flood rushing around. Bart leaped over 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


159 


it, landed safely, and found the next rock quite six 
feet distant, and a good deal higher than the one he 
was upon. 

He paused for a moment or two to think what 
would be the consequences if he did not reach this 
stone, and judged that it meant a good ducking and 
a swim to one of the shallows below. 

“ But I should get my rifle and cartridges wet,” 
he said aloud, “ and that would never do. Shall I ? 
Shan’t I ?” 

Bart’s answer was to gather himself up and leap, 
with the result that he just reached the edge of the 
rock, and throwing himself forward managed to hold 
on, and then scramble up in safety. 

“ Going back ’s easy enough,” thought Bart, as he 
prepared to bound to the next rock, a long mass, 
like the back of some monstrous alligator, just ris- 
ing above the flood. Along this he walked seven or 
eight yards, jumped from block to block of a dozen 
more rugged pieces, and then bounded upon a rough 
semicircular piece that ended the ridge like a bastion, 
beyond which the water ran deep and swift. 

“This is grand!” cried Bart, whose eyes flashed 
with pleasure; and settling himself down in a com- 
fortable position, he laid his rifle across his knees 
with the intention of watching the fish in a shallow 
just above him, but only to forget all about them 
directly after, as he sat enjoying the beauties of the 
scene, and wished that his sisterly companion Maude 
were there to see how wonderfully grand their 
mother Nature could be. 

“ If there were no Indians,” thought Bart, “ and 
a good large town close by, what a lovely place this 
would be for a house ! I could find a splendid spot; 
and then one could hunt on the plains, and shoot 
and fish, and the doctor could find silver and gold, 
and — good gracious! What’s that?” 


160 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

A NARROW ESCAPE. 

Bart laid down his rifle as he uttered this ex- 
clamation, and, shading his eyes, gazed before him 
up the river. 

For as he had been dreamily gazing before him 
at the shallow where the water ran over a bed of 
the purest sand for about a hundred yards, it seemed 
to him that he had seen a dark something roll over, 
and then for a moment a hand appear above the 
water, or else it was the ragged leaf of some great 
water plant washed out from its place of growth in 
the bank. 

“ It looks like — it must be — it is !” cried Bart. 
‘‘Somebody has fallen in, and is drowning!” 

As he thought this a chill feeling of horror seemed 
to rob him of his power of motion. And now, as he 
gazed at the glittering water with starting eyes, he 
knew that there was no mistake — it was no fancy, 
for there was a body being rolled over and over by 
the stream, now catching, now sweeping along 
swiftly, and nearer and nearer to where the lad 
croached, 

The water before him was shallow enough, and all 
clear sand. "Without hesitation, Bart lowered him- 
self down from the rock, stepped on to the sand 
with the water now to his knees, and was then about 
to wade towards the body, when he turned sharply 
and clutched the rough surface of the rock, cling- 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 161 

mg tightly; and after a deep struggle managed to 
clamber back, panting, and with the perspiration in 
great drops upon his brow. 

He knew now what ho had only partly realized 
before, and that was the fact that these beautiful 
smooth sands, over which the swift current pleas- 
antly glided, were quicksands of the most deadly 
kind, and that if he had not struggled back there 
would have been no chance of escape. Another 
step would have been fatal, and he must have gone 
down, for no swimming could avail in such a 
strait. 

But Bart, in spite of the shock of his narrow es- 
cape, had not forgotten the object for which he had 
lowered himself from the rock, and gazing eagerly 
towards the shallows, he saw that it was just being 
swept off them into the deep water that rushed 
round the buttress upon which he stood. 

It was the work of a moment. Reaching out as 
far as he could, he just managed to grip the cling- 
ing garment of the object sweeping by. He held on 
fiercely, and before he could fully comprehend his 
position he found that he had overbalanced himself, 
and the next moment lie had gone under with a 
sullen plunge ! 

Bart was a good swimmer, and though incumb- 
ered with his clothes, he felt no fear of reaching the 
bank somewhere lower down. Confident in this re- 
spect, he looked round as he rose to the surface for 
the body of him he had tried to save, for as he struck 
the water he had loosened his hold. 

There was just a glimmer of something below the 
surface, and, taking a couple of sturdy strokes, 
Bart reached it before it sank lower, caught hold, 
and then, guiding his burden, struck out for the 
shore. 

The rocks from which he had come were already 


162 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


a hundred yards above them, the stream sweeping* 
them down with incredible swiftness, and Bart 
knew that it would be folly to do more than go with 
it, striving gently the while to guide his course to- 
wards some projecting rocks upon the bank. After 
fighting hard to get a hold upon a piece of smooth 
stone that promised well, but from which he literally 
seemed to be plucked by the rushing water, Bart 
found himself in a deep, still pool, round which he 
was swept twice, and, to his horror, nearer each 
time towards the center, where, with an agonizing 
pang, he felt that he might be sucked down. 

Dreading this, he made a desperate effort, and 
once more reached the very edge of the great, calm, 
swirling pool just as the bushes on the bank were 
parted with a low rush, and the Beaver literally 
bounded into the water. AY hen, faint and exhausted, 
they all reached a shallow rocky portion of the 
stream a quarter of a mile below where Bart had 
made his plunge, the chief was ready to lift out the 
object the lad had tried to save, and then hold out 
his hand and help the lad ashore. 

The next minute they were trying to resuscitate 
him whom Bart had nearly lost his life in trying to 
save, and who was none other than Dr. Lascelles. 

As they worked, the interpreter told Bart how the 
accident had occurred. 

YVhile the speaker and the chief had been collect- 
ing sticks for a fire to roast a salmon they had 
speared with a sharp forked stick, they had seen 
the doctor busily rinsing the sand in the shallow 
pool of the rocks, well out, where the stream ran 
fast. They had not anticipated danger, and were 
busy over their preparations, when, looking up they 
found the doctor had gone. 

Even then they did not think there was anything 
yrrong, believing that while they -were busy their 


IN THE WILDS OP NEW MEXICO. 


163 


leader had gone to some other part among the 
rocks, till, happening to glance down the stream 
some minutes later, the Beaver’s quick eyes had 
caught, sight of the bright tin bowl which the doc- 
tor had been using to rinse the sand in his hunt 
for gold, floating on the surface a hundred yards 
below, and slowly sailing round and round in an 
eddy. 

Tnis started them in search of the drowning man, 
with the result that they reached Bart in time to 
save both. 

For after a long and arduous task the doctor 
began to show signs of life, and at last opened his 
eyes and stared about him like one who had just 
awakened from a dream. 

“ What — what has happened, eh ?” he asked. 
“ Di 1 — did I slip from the rocks, or have I been 
asleep ?” 

He shuddered, and struggled into a sitting po- 
sition; then, thoroughly comprehending after a few 
minutes what had passed, 

“Who saved me?” he said, quickly. 

The Beaver seemed to understand the drift of the* 
question, for he pointed with a smile to Bart. 

“You?” exclaimed the doctor. 

“Oh, I did nothing,” said Bart, modestly. “I 
saw you floating down towards me, and tried to> 
pull you on a rock; instead of doing which you* 
pulled me in, and we swam down together till I 
got near the shore, and then I could do no more. It 
was the Beaver there who saved us.” 

The doctor rose and grasped the chief’s band, 
wringing it warmly. 

“ Where’s Joses ?” he said, sharply. 

No one knew. 

“Let us go back,” said the doctor; “perhaps we 
may meet him higher up;” and looking faint and ut- 


164 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO. 


terly exhausted, he followed the two Indians. The 
doctor’s words proved to be right, for they came 
upon Joses toiling down towards the passage lead- 
ing to the plain, with six heavy fish hanging from a 
tough wand thrust through the gills. 

They reached the chimney, as Bart christened it, 
just about the same time as Joses, who stared as he 
caught sight of the saturated clothes. 

“ What ! been in after the fish ?” he said with a 
chuckle. “I got mine without being wet.” 

“We’ve had a narrow escape from drowning, 
Joses,” said the doctor, hoarsely. 

“ That’s bad, boss, that’s bad,” cried Joses. “ It 
all comes of my going away and leaving you and 
Master Bart there; but I thought a few o’ these sal- 
mon chaps would be good eating, so I went and 
snared ’em out with a bit o’ wire and a pole.” 

“ I shall soon be better, Joses,” replied the doctor. 
“ The accident would have happened all the same 
whether you had been there or not. Let us get 
back to the camp.” 

“Are we going to leave these beautiful fish the 
Beaver and old Speechworks here have caught and 
cooked ?” asked Joses, regretfully. 

“ No,” said the doctor, sinking down upon a 
stone, “let us rest and eat them. We shall not hurt 
out here in this bright sunshine, Bart, and we’ll 
wring some of the water out of our clothes and have 
less weight to carry.” 

This speech gave the greatest of satisfaction, for 
the party were ravenously hungry, and the halt was 
not long enough to do any one hurt, for the broiled 
salmon was rapidly eaten. Then they started, and 
after a rather toilsome climb, ascended once more 
to the level of the plain, and reaching the wagons 
learned that all was well before proceeding to the 
doctor’s quarters at the top of the mountain. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


165 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE BEAVER SNIFFS DANGER. 

“ There’s something wrong, Master Bart,” said 
Joses that evening, as Bart, rejoicing in the luxury 
of well dried clothes, sat enjoying the beauty of 
the setting sun, and thinking of the glories of the 
canyon. 

“ Why do you think so ?” 

“ Because the Beaver’s so busy.” 

“ What is he doing ?” 

“All sorts of things. He hasn’t said anything, 
but I can see by his way that he sniffs danger 
somewhere. He’s getting all the horses into the 
cavern stable, and making his men drive all the 
cattle into the corral, and that means there’s some- 
thing wrong as sure as can be. Injuns smell dan- 
ger long before it comes. There’s no deceiving 
them.” 

“Let’3 go and see him, Joses,” cried Bart; and, 
shouldering their rifles, they walked past the drawn 
up rows of empty wagons, whose stores were all 
high up on the mountain. 

As they reached the entrance to the corral the 
Indians had driven in the last pair of oxen, while 
the horses and mules were already in their hiding 
place. 

“ Did the doctor order this ?” asked Bart. 

“ Not he, sir; he’s busy up above looking at the 


166 


IN THE WILES OF NEW MEXICO. 


silver they dug out while we were down in the can- 
yon. It’s all the Beaver’s doings, Master Bart, and 
you may take it for granted there’s good cause for it 
all.” 

“ Ah, Beaver,” said Bart, as the chief came out of 
the corral, “ why is this ?” 

/“Indian dog, Apache,” said the chief, pointing out 
towards the plain. 

Bart turned sharply round, and gazed in the indi- 
cated direction, but he could see nothing, neither 
could Joses. 

The Beaver smiled with a look of superior wis- 
dom. 

“The Beaver-with-Sharp-Teeth,” said the inter- 
preter, coming up, “hears the Indian dog, the ene- 
mies of his race, on the wind.” 

“ But where are the Apaches ?” cried Bart. “ Oh, 
he means, Joses, that they are out upon the plain, 
and that it is wise to be ready for them.” 

“Yes; lie means that they are out upon the plain, 
and that they are coming tonight, my lad,” said 
Joses. Then, turning to the chief, he patted the 
lock of his rifle meaningly, and the chief nodded and 
said “ Yes.” 

Then he led the frontiersman and Bart to the en- 
trance Of the stable, where his followers were putting 
the last stones in position. Then he took them to 
the corral, which was also thoroughly well secured 
with huge stones; and the Indians now took up 
their rifles, and resuming their ordinary somber 
manner, stood staring indifferently about them. 

Just then there was a loud hail, and turning 
quickly round, Bart saw the doctor waving his hand 
to them to join him. 

“Indians are on the plains,” exclaimed the doc- 
tor. “ I saw them from the top of the castle”— he 
had taken to calling the mountain rock “the 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


167 


castle ” — “ with the glass. They are many miles 
away, but they may be enemies, and we must be 
prepared. Get the horses secured, Joses; and 
you, interpreter, ask the Beaver to see to the cat- 
tle.” 

“ All safely shut in, sir,” said Bart, showing his 
teeth; “ the Beaver felt that there was danger an 
hour ago, and everything has been done.” 

“Capital!” cried the doctor; “but how could he 

tell r 

“That’s the mystery,” replied Bart; “but he 
said there were Indian dogs away yonder on the 
plains.” 

“ Indian dog, Apache,” said the Beaver, scowling, 
and pointing towards the plain. 

“Yes, that’s where they are,” said the doctor, nod- 
ding; “he is quite light, and this being so, we must 
get up into our castle and man the walls. Let me 
see first if all is safe.” 

ITe walked to both entrances, and satisfied him- 
self, saying: 

“Yes; they could not be better; but, of course, 
all depends upon our covering them from above 
with our rifles, for the Apaches could pull those 
rocks down as easily as we put them there. Now, 
then, let us go up; the wagons are fortunately empty 
enough.” 

The doctor led the way, pausing, however, to 
mount a wagon and take a good look out into the 
plain, which he swept with his glass, but only to 
close it with a look of surprise. 

“I can see nothing from here,” he said, “but we 
may as well be safe;” and entering the slit in the 
rock they called the gateway, he drew aside for the 
last few “greasers,” who had been tending the cat- 
tle, to mount before him; then Joses, Bart, the Bea- 
ver, and his followers came in. The strong stones 


168 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


kept for tlie purpose were hauled into place, and 
the entry thoroughly blocked: after which the vari- 
ous points of defense were manned, the doctor with 
several of the company taking the passage and the 
gate, while the Beaver, with Joses, Bart, and the In- 
dians, were sent to man the ramparts — that is to 
say, the ingeniously contrived gallery that over- 
looked the stable cavern and the great corral. 

“ You must not spare your powder if the cattle 
are in danger,” said the doctor for his last orders. 
“ I don’t want to shed blood, but these savages must 
have another severe lesson if they mean to annoy 
us. All I ask is to be let alone.” 

Bart 1 jd the way, and soon after was ensconced in 
his rifle pit, with Joses on one side, and the Beaver 
on the other, the rest of the party being carefully 
arranged. Then the doctor spread the alarm up 
above, and the men armed and manned the zigzag 
way, but all out of sight; and at last, just as it was 
growing dark, the great plain fortress looked as si- 
lent as if there was not a man anywhere upon its 
heights, and yet in their various hiding places there 
were scores, each with his deadly rifle ready to send 
a return bullet for every one fired by any enemy. 

“ No firing unless absolutely necessary,” was the 
doctor’s whispered order, and then all was silent, 
while they waited to see if any enemy would really 
come. 

They were not long kept in doubt, for just as the 
heavens had assumed that peculiar rich gray tint 
(that precedes .darkness, and a soft white mist was 
rising from the .depths of the canyon, there was 
seen, as if arising from out of the plain itself, a dark 
body moving rapidly, and this soon developed itself 
into a strong band of Indians, all well mounted, 
their heads decked with feathers, and each armed 
with rifle and spear. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


169 


They were in their war paint, but still they might 
be disposed to be friendly; and the doctor was will- 
ing to believe it till he saw through his glass that 
they wore the skull and crossbones painted in 
white upon their broad, brown chests, and he knew’ 
that they were of the same tribe as had visited them 
before, and gone off after so severe a lesson. 

Still he hoped that they might be friendly, and he 
was determined that they should not be fired upon 
without good reason. 

A few minutes later he changed his opinion, for, 
evidently well drilled by their chief, tlie Indians 
charged towards where the tilted wagons were 
drawn up in the shade of the rock, riding with as 
much precision as a well drilled body of cavalry. 
Then, at a sign, they drew rein in a couple of ranks, 
about fifty yards from the wagons, and presenting 
their rifles, without word of warning fired a volley. 

Another volley followed, and another, the thick 
smoke rising on the evening air, and then, appar- 
ently surprised at there being no replying shot, 
about twenty galloped up with lowered spears, 
thrust two or three times through the canvas tilts 
and galloped back, the whole band sweeping off the 
next moment as swiftly and as silently as they came, 
gradually becoming fainter and more shadowy, and 
then quite disappearing from the watchers’ sight. 

“ They’re gone, then ?” whispered Bart, drawing a 
breath of relief. 

“ Yes; they’re a bit scared by the silence,” said 
Joses; “but they’ll come back again.” 

“ When ?” said Bart. 

“Sneaking about in the dark, to stampede the 
horses and cattle, as soon as ever they know where 
they are, my boy.” 

“ Yes — come back.” said the Beaver, in a low 
tone, and he whispered then to the interpreter. 


170 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“ Apache dogs will come back in the night when 
the moon is up,” said the interpreter. “ They will 
steal up to the camp like wolves, and die like dogs 
and wolves, for they shall not have the horses and 
oxen.” 

And just then the Beaver, who seemed to com- 
prehend his follower’s English, said softly, “It is 
good.” 

The hours went by, but no sound or sign came 
from the plain; the stars started out bright and 
clear, and in the east there was a faint lambent light 
that told of the coming of the moon ere long, but 
still all seemed silent in the desert. 

The men seemed to grow weary, and began talk- 
ing so loudly that the doctor sent stern messages to 
them to be silent; and once more all was still, 
save when some one fidgeted about to change his 
position. 

“ Why can’t they keep still ?” growled Joses, softly, 
as he lay perfectly motionless, listening to every 
sound. “ They don’t understand how a man’s life — 
aye, all our lives — may depend on their being still. 
Look at them Injuns. They never move.” 

Joses was quite right. Each Indian had taken 
his place where appointed, and had not moved 
since, saving to settle down into a part of the rock. 
The swarthy, muscular fellows might have been 
part of the stone for any sign they gave of life. 

At last the moon rose slowly above the edge of 
the vast plain, sending a flood of light to bring into 
prominence every bush and tree, striking on the 
face of the mountain, and casting its shadow light 
away over the plain. From where Bart crouched he 
could not see the moon, but there was the heavy 
shadow of the mountain stretching to an enormous 
distance; and as he watched it, he could not help 
thinking how easily the Indians might creep right 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


171 


up to them find make a bold assault, and this idea 
he whispered to Joses. 

“ There’s no tellin’ when they’ll come, my lad,” re- 
plied the frontiersman. “ They’ll crawl through 
the grass and from stone to stone in the dark there, 
and who’s to see them ? My eyes are sharp enough, 
but I don’t know as I should see them coming. Let’s 
ask the Beaver what he says.” 

“ The Beaver-with-Sharp-Teetli has heard all you 
said,” whispered the interpreter, “ and he says that 
the Apaches will come before long to find their way 
into the camp, and then they will go away again if 
they do not die.” 

A curious silence seemed to fall after this, and 
Bart felt as he crouched there watching the plains 
that something very terrible was going to happen 
ere long. At another time he would have been 
drowsy, but now sleep was the last thing of which 
he thought, all his nerves being overwrought; and 
as his eyes swept the wide, flat plain, he kept on 
fancying that sooner or later he would see the 
Ajjaches coming up to them with the slow, silent ap- 
proach of so many shadows. 

An^l now it suddenly struck Bart that the shadow 
of the mountain was shorter than when the moon 
first rose, and that its edges were more boldly de- 
fined, and by this he knew, of course, that the moon 
was getting higher. At the same time, though, soft, 
fleecy clouds began to hide the stars, and at times 
the shadow of the mountain was blotted out, for the 
moon was from time to time obscured, ami the pe- 
culiar indistinctness of the earth seemed to Bart as 
exactly suited for an enemy’s approach. A slight 
movement at his side told him that this was the In- 
dians’ idea as well, and that to a man they were 
eagerly scanning the plain and the rugged patches 
of rock beneath. 


172 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


Every here and there the fallen masses were piled 
up into buttresses, and it was amongst these that, 
after failing to keep his attention upon the misty 
plain, Bart let his gaze wander till at Jast he became 
convinced that he could see some dark patch in slow 
motion, and it was long enough before he could sat- 
isfy himself that it was only a stone. 

He was deceived in this way so often — the various 
little prominences below him seeming to waver and 
move, and assume form in accordance with his ideas 
— that he grew tired of watching, feeling sure at 
last that there would be nothing to trouble them 
that night, when suddenly a soft, film hand glided 
gently and silently as a snake to his wrist, took firm 
hold of it and pressed it, before rising and pointing 
down below them into the plain. 

Bart followed the direction of the pointing hand, 
but he could see nothing, and he was about to say 
so, when, gradually sweeping past, a few light 
clouds must have left the moon partially clear, and 
w r ith the sudden access of light Bart could make 
out two somethings close beside the piled up rocks, 
and for some moments he could not be sure that 
they were men prostrated on their chests crawling 
towards the entrance to the cattle corral, for they 
seemed to assimilate with the color of the earth; and 
though he strained his eyes, not a trace of motion 
could he detect. 

By degrees, though, it seemed to him that or e of 
the figures was a man, the other some shaggy kind 
of crouching beast, till his eyes grew more educated, 
and lie decided that one was an Indian naked to the 
waist, while the other was wearing his buffalo robe 
as an additional means of protection . 

Bart watched them attentively, and still the fig- 
ures did not move. At last, however, he saw that 
they had changed theii position, creeping closer to 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


173 


tlie piled up rocks, and at last, evidently encouraged 
by the fact that when the firing took place that 
evening there was no response, the two savages sud- 
denly rose erect and went to the piled up stones 
that blocked the corral entry. 

“How did they know the cattle were there?” 
said Bart, putting his lips close to Joses’s ear. 

“ Nose !” whispered back the frontiersman laconi- 
cally. 

“ But how could they tell that this was the en- 
trance ?” whispered Bart again. 

“Eyes !” replied Joses; and he then laid his hand 
upon Bart’s lips, as a sign that he must refrain from 
speaking any more. 

Bart rather chafed at this, and he was growing 
excited as well, for it troubled him that Joses and 
Beaver should have let these two spies go right up 
to such a treasure as the cattle corral unchallenged; 
and though he would not have thought of firing at 
the savages, he could not help thinking that some- 
thing ought to be done — what, he could not say — 
for the low, grating noise he now heard was cer- 
tainly the Indians moving one of the blocks of 
stone that had so carefully been placed there that 
afternoon. 

“ They’re opening the corral, my lad !” said Joses 
just then, in a hoarse whisper; “and if we don’t 
stop ’em we shall be having ’em drive the whole lot 
of bullocks and cows right away into the plains, and 
never see a hoof again.” 

“ What’s to be done, then ?” whispered Bart, 
whose face was covered with a wet dew, while his 
cheeks were at fever heat. 

“Well, my lad, they seem to have found out 
the w r ay easy enough by crawling over the cattle 
trail; but I suppose we shall either have to be rob- 
bed, or else we must stop ’em; so, as the doctor 


174 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


won’t like all our cattle to go, I’m going to stop 
’em.” 

“ It’s very horrible !” whispered Bart. 

“ ’Tis, my lad; so don’t you do it. Leave it to 
us. Hah ! that’s a big stone down, and the cattle’s 
beginning to fidget. Now, Beaver, what do you 
say t 

The Beaver answered with his rifle, which gave a 
sharp report, just as the moon shone out a little 
more clearly. 

“Hit!” said Joses, laconically, as they saw quite 
plainly the two Indians start back from the rocks 
right out into the clear moonlight, one of them utter- 
ing a fierce, hoarse yell, and staggering as if about 
to fall, when the other sprang forward and caught 
him by the chest, holding him up, and, as it was 
plain to see, forming of the body of his wounded 
companion a shield to protect himself from the bul- 
lets of their unseen assailants. 

“ They must not go away and tell tales,” muttered 
Joses, as be took aim; but just then the interpreter’s 
rifle rang out, and the half nude Indian turned partly 
around, so that they could see in white paint upon 
his breast, seeming to gleam horribly in the moon- 
light, the ghastly skull and cross boues that appear- 
ed to have been adopted as the badge of the tribe. 
Then he fell back into the arms of his friend, who 
clasped his arms round him, and backed slowly, 
keeping the wounded man’s face to the firing party, 
while, as if mechanically, the injured savage kept 
step. 

Crack went the Beaver’s rifle again, and there was 
a dull thud telling of a hit, but still the two Indians 
retreated slowly. 

Crack ! went Joses’s rifle, and he uttered a low 
growl. 

“ I’m sure I hit him, and I dunno whether it touch ed 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


175 


the t’other one — a cowardly sneak to sneak behind 
his fellow like that.” 

Crack — crack — crack — crack! four rifles uttered 
their reports, which seemed to reverberate from the 
face of the mountain; and as the smoke rose slowly, 
and Bart could gaze at the moonlit plain and try to 
read the meaning of the fierce yell of defiance that 
he had heard arise, he saw that the first Indian lay 
upon his back with the moon shining upon his 
ghastly, painted breast, while his companion was 
rapidly disappearing as he ran swiftly over the 
plain. 

The Beaver’s rifle rang out again, and he started 
up into a kneeling position, gazing after the object 
at which he had fired, while his fingers mechanically 
reloaded his piece. Then he uttered a low, guttural 
cry of auger and sank down into his former position. 

“ Missed him, Beaver?” said Joses, quietly. 

“ No,” was the sharp retort. “ He was hit, but he 
will escape to his dogs of people.” 

This was a tremendous speech for the chief, who,, 
however, seemed to be acquiring the English tongue 
with remarkable rapidity, the fact being that he had 
long known a great deal of English, but had been 
too proud to make use of it till he could speak suf- 
ficiently well to make himself understood with ease, 
and therefore he had brought up the interpreter as 
a medium between him and his white friends. 

They watched through the rest of the night, after 
communicating to the doctor the reason for the fir- 
ing, but there was no fresh alarm. The moon rose 
higher and shed a clear effulgence that seemed to 
make the plain as light as day, while the shadow of 
the mountain appeared to become black, and the rav- 
ines and cracks m its sides to be so many dense marks 
set in solid silver. 

Daylight at last, with the silvery moon growing 


176 


IN THE WILES OE NEW MEXICO. 


pale and the stars fading out. First a heavy gray, 
then a silvery light, then soft, roseate tints, followed 
by orange flecks far up in the east, and then one 
glorious golden blaze to herald the sun, as the great 
orb slowly seemed to roll up over the edge of the 
plain, and bring with it life, and light, and hope. 

“ Hurrah !” shouted Bart, as he rose from his 
cramped position in the rifle pit. “Oh, Joses! my 
back ! my legs ! Ah , ah ! Oh my ! Do rub me ! 
I’m so stiff I can hardly move.” 

“That'll soon go off, my lad. There, I suppose 
most of us may go off duty now, for I can’t see any 
Injun out on the plains.” 

“ Yes, hundreds !” said the Beaver, who had been 
shading his eyes and gazing intently over the sunlit 
expanse of rocky landscape dotted with trees. 

“ Where, Beaver ?” said Joses. 

For answer the chief pointed right away and both 
Joses and Bart tried to make out what he meant, but 
in vain. 

The Beaver smiled. 

“Ah, it’s all very w r ell for you to laugh,” said 
Joses, bluntly, “but you’ve got eyes that sees round 
corners of hills, and through clumps of wood and 
bits of mountain. I never saw such eyes in my 
life.” 

“My eyes will do,” said the Beaver, quietly. 
“ The Apaches are over yonder. They will be on 
the watch to carry off the cattle or to kill us if they 
can.” 

“ Yes, that’s it,” said Joses, “ if they can.” 

Without another word the Beaver and half a dozen 
of his followers went down the slope, and climbed 
the stone gateway, to leap into the plain, where, 
without a word of instruction, they bore off the body 
of the fallen Indian, and buried it down in the rift 
where the other two had been laid. They returned 


IN THE WILDS Of NEW MEXICO. 


177 

to partake of the morning meal that ' had been pre- 
pared, fires being lit in crevices and chasms of the 
zigzag way; and this meal being partaken of in the 
bright morning sunshine, seemed to make the dan- 
gers of the night appear trifling, and the spirits of 
the people rose. 

The greatest danger was with respect to the cattle, 
which had to be driven out to pasture along near the 
edge of the lake, and this, was done at once, every 
available man mounting his horse and forming 
guard, so as to protect the cattle and pasture his 
horse at the same time. 

This was carried on for some days, and a careful 
watch was kept out towards the jflain; but though 
bodies of Indians were seen maneuvering in the dis- 
tance, none approached the mountain, whose flag 
waved out defiance; and as night after night passed 
without alarm, there were some of the party san- 
guine enough to say that the Indians had had their 
lesson and would come no more. 

“ What do you say to that, Beaver?” said Joses, 
laying his hand upon the chiefs shoulder, and look- 
ing him in the face. 

“Indian dog of Apache never forgives,” he replied, 
quietly. “ They may come todaj r — tomorrow — next 
moon. Who can tell when the Apache will come and 
strike? But he will come.” 

“ There, Master Bart, hear that !” said Joses. 
“ How about going down into the canyon to spear 
salmon now ?” 

So confidently was this said that it made a deep 
impression on all assembled, and the greatest effect 
of the declaration was to increase the men’s vigil- 
ance, which had been greatly relaxed. 


178 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER XX 

A RACE FOE LIFE. 

The Beaver's knowledge of the Apache nature -was 
soon vindicated, for it was only the next night, as 
our friends were gazing out upon the spreading 
plain and talking in tones subdued, as if in awe of 
the solemn silence that was over the land, the Bea- 
ver suddenly held up his hand to command absolute 
silence. Then he drew Bart toward him and pointed 
outward. “ Apache dogs !” he whispered. “Young 
chief Bart, see ?” 

“No,” replied the lad, after gazing intently for 
some time; and then, without a word, he glided off 
along the narrow, rocky, well sheltered path, and 
made his way to the doctor, who, with his men, was 
upon the qui vive. 

“Well, Bart, what is it?” he said, eagerly. 

“ The Beaver can see Apaches on the plain.” 

“Anight attack, eh?” said the doctor. “Well, 
we shall be ready for them. Why have you come — 
to give us w T arning ?” 

“ I came first for the glass,” replied Bart. “ I’ll 
send you notice if they appear likely to attack, 
sir.” 

“ Then I hope you will not have to send the notice, 
my lad,” said the doctor, “ for I don’t like fighting 
in the dark.” 

As he spoke he handed the glass, and Bart return- 
ed to the gallery. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


179 


“ Are they still there ?” he whispered. 

“Yes; Apache dogs!” was the reply. “Good 
medicine.” 

“ They won’t find it so,” growled Joses, “ if they 
come close up here, for my rifle has got to be hun- 
gry again. I’m ’bout tired of not being left peace- 
able and alone, and my rifle’s like me, it means to 
bite.” 

As he crouched there, muttering and thinking of 
the narrow escapes they had had, Bart carefully 
focused the glass — no easy task in the deep gloom 
that surrounded them — and after several trials he 
saw something which made him utter an ejaculation 
full of wonder. 

“What is it, my lad ?” whispered Joses. 

“ The young chief sees the Apache dogs ?” said the 
interpreter. 

“ Yes !” exclaimed Bart; “the plain swarms with 
them !” 

“ Then they’re gathering for a big attack in the 
morning,” said Joses. “ Are they mounted ?” 

“ Yes, all of them. I can just make them outcros- 
sing the plain.” 

“ Well, their horses are only good to run away 
upon,” growled Joses; “ they can’t ride up this moun- 
tain. Let me have a look, my lad.” 

Bart handed the glass, and Joses took a long, 
eager look through it at the gathering of Apache 
warriors. 

“I tell you what,” he said, “ we shall have to look 
out or they’ll drive off every head of cattle and every 
leg of horse. They’re as cunning as cunning, I 
don’t care what any one says, and some of these days 
we shall open our eyes and find ourselves in a pretty 
mess.” 

“ The Apache dogs shall not have the horses !” 
said the Beaver, fiercely. 


180 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


“That’s right; don’t let’em have them!” cried 
Joses. “ I don't want ’em to go; but here’s one thing 
I should like answered — how are we going to find 
’em in pasture with all these wild beasts hanging 
about ready to swoop down and make a stampede of 
it, and drive ’em off ?” 

“ The Beaver’s young men will drive the horses 
and cattle out,” said the Beaver, in tones of quiet 
confidence, “ and bring them back again quite safe.” 

“If you can do that,” said Joses, “perhaps we can 
hold out; but it don’t seem likely that we shall get 
much salmon from down in the canyon yonder, 
which is a pity, for I’ve took to quite longing for a 
bit of that, and if the Apaches don’t take care I shall 
have some yet. 

Day broke, and the sun rose, displaying a sight 
that disheartened many of the occupants of the rock, 
for far out in the plain, and well beyond the reach 
of rifle bullets, there was troop after troop of Indian 
warriors, riding gently here and there, as if to exer- 
cise their horses, but doubtless in pursuance of some 
settled plan. 

The doctor inspected them carefully through his 
glass to try and estimate their numbers, and he 
quite came to the conclusion that they intended to 
invest the rock fortress, and if they could make no 
impression in one way, to try to starve out its occu- 
pants. 

“We must make sure, once for all, Bart, that we 
have no weak points — no spot by which these Indian 
wretches can ascend and take us in the rear. Sup- 
pose you take the Beaver and two of his men with 
you, ascend the mountain, and make a careful in- 
spection.” 

“ But that would hardly be so satisfactory, sir, as 
if we went all round the base first to make sure that 
there is no way up from the plain.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 181 

“No, I know that,” replied the doctor; “but that 
is too dangerous a task.” 

“ I’m beginning to like dangerous tasks, now, sir,” 
said Bart; “they are so exciting.” 

“Weil, go, then,” said the doctor; “but you must 
be mounted, or you will have no chance of retreat; 
and of course you will all keep a sharp lookout in 
case the Indians swoop down.” 

Bart promised, and went at once to the Beaver and 
Joses. 

“I’m to come too, ain’t I?” said the latter. 

“ No, you are to help keep guard,” was the reply; 
and very sulkily Joses resumed bis place, while the 
Beaver descended with Bart and four of his men to 
enter the rock stable and obtain their horses, the 
rest having to remain fasting while their companions 
were mounted and ridden out; the Indian ponies in 
particular resenting the indignity of being shut up 
again behind the stones by turning round and kick- 
ing vehemently. 

The Apaches were so far distant that Bart was in 
hopes that they would not see the reconnaissance 
that was being made, as he rode out at the head of 
his little Indian party, after fully explaining to the 
Beaver that which they were to do. 

His first step was to inspect the part of the moun- 
tain on the side that was nearest to the chimney, and 
the chasm into which they had descended to see the 
silver on their first coming. 

This was the shortest portion, by far, and it had 
the advantage of a good deal of cover in the shape 
of detached rocks, which sheltered them from the 
eyes of those upon the plain; but, all the same, 
the Beaver posted two of his men as scouts in good 
places for observing the movements of the foe and 
giving warning should the} r approach; the plan 
being to take refuge beneath the gallery, where they 


182 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


would be covered by the rides of Joses and their 
friends. 

It was not at all a difficult task to satisfy the most 
exacting that ascent from the plain anywhere from 
the gallery to the precipice at the edge of the canyon 
was utterly impossible; and after carefully examining 
every crack and rift that ran upwards, the little 
party cantered back, said a few words to Joses, and 
then prepared for their more risky task, that of ex- 
amining the mountain round by its northern and 
more open side, for there was no cover here, and 
their path would be more fully in view of any watch- 
ful eye upon the plain. 

* They drew up by the gateway, and had a few 
minutes’ conversation with the doctor, who said at 
parting: 

“ You can soon satisfy yourself, Bart; but give a 
good look up as you come back, in case you may 
have missed anything in going.” 

“ I’ll be careful,” said Bart, eagerly. 

“Mind that scouts are left. I should leave at 
least three at different points on the road. They 
can give you warning at once. Then gallop back as 
if you were in a race. We shall be ready to cover 
you with our rifles if they come on. Now lose no 
time. Go !” 

Bart touched Black Boy with his heels, and went 
off at a canter, but checked his speed instantly, so 
that he might the more easily gaze up at the moun- 
tain side, while, thoroughly intent upon his task, 
the Beaver left scouts at intervals, each man backing 
close into the rock, and sitting there like a statue 
watching the plain. 

No Indians were in sight as far as Bart could see, 
and he rode slowly on, inspecting every opening in 
the face of the mountain, and so intent upon his 
task that he left the care of his person to the 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO. 


183 


chief, whose watchful eyes were everywhere, now 
pointing out rifts in the rock, now searching the 
plain. 

It was a much longer distance, and the impor- 
tance of the task and its risk gave a piquancy to 
the ride that made the blood dance through Bart’s 
veins. He could not help a little shudder running 
through him from time to time, though it was al- 
most more of a thrill, and he could not have told, 
had he been asked, whether it was a thrill of dread 
or of pleasure. Perhaps there may have been 
more of the former, for he kept glancing over his 
right shoulder from time to time to see if a body of 
Indians might be sweeping at full gallop over the 
plain. 

Half the distance was ridden over, and this gave 
confidence to the adventurer, who rode more stead- ^ 
ily on, and spared no pains to make sure of there 
being no possibility of the Indians reaching the top 
from that side. 

On went Bart, and three fourths of the way was 
passed with nothing overhead but towering perpen- 
dicular rocks, impossible for anything but a fly to 
scale. The Indians had been left one after the 
other as scouting sentries, and at last, when no one 
was in company with the young adventurer but the 
Beaver, the edge of the canyon was well in sight, 
and only a few hundred yards of the rock remained 
to be inspected. 

“We wi'l do this, at all events,” said Bart, press- 
ing his cob’s sides with his heels; and he cantered 
on, for the face of the mountain was now so perpen- 
dicular and smooth that there was no difficulty in 
determining its safety at a glance. 

Only about three hundred yards more and then 
there was the canyon, presenting a barrier of rock 
so steep, as well as so much higher, that there was 


184 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


nothing to fear on that side. Only these three hun- 
dred yards to examine, and the dangerous enterprise 
was almost as good as done, for every step taken by 
the horses then would be one nearer to safety. 
Bart had ridden on, leaving the Beaver, who had 
drawn rein, looking back at the plain, when sud- 
denly there was a warning cr} r , and the lad looked 
over his shoulder to see the Beaver signaling to 
him. 

“A minute won’t make much difference,” thought 
Bart, excitedly; and instead of turning, he pressed 
his horse’s flanks and galloped on to finish his task, 
rejoicing in the fact as he reached the canyon edge 
that he had seen every yard of the mountain side, 
and that it was even more perpendicular than near 
the gateway, 

“Now for back at a gallop.” said Bart, who was 
thrilling with excitement; and turning his steed 
right on the very edge of the canyon, he prepared 
to start back, when, to his horror, he saw a party of 
dismounted Indians rise up as it were frtm the 
canyon about a hundred yards away. "With a fierce 
yell they made for the young horseman, but as 
Black Boy bounded forward they stopped short. A 
: score of bullets came whizzing about Bart’s ears, 
and as the reports of the pieces echoed from the 
face of the mountain the cob reared right up and 
fell over backwards, Bart saving himself by a nimble 
spring on one side, and fortunately retaining his 
hold of the bridle as the cob scrambled up. 

Just then, as the Indians came yelling on, and 
Bart in his confusion felt that he must either use 
rifle or knife, he could not tell which, there was a 
rush of hoofs, a quick check, and a hand gripped 
him by the collar. 

For a moment he turned to defend himself, but 
as he did so he saw that it was a friend, and his 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


185 


hand closed upon the Indian pony’s mane, for it was 
the Beaver co:ne to his help; and spurring hard he 
cantered off, with Bart half running, half lifted at 
every plunge, as the pony made towards where their 
first friend was waiting rifle in hand. 

“Let me try — draw him in,” panted Bart, grip- 
ping his own pony’s mane hard as it raced on beside 
the Beaver’s; and with a hand upon each, he gave a 
bound and a swing and landed in his saddle, just as 
the Apaches halted to fire another volley. 

Black Boy did not rear up this time, and Bart now 
saw the reason of the last evolution, feeling thank- 
ful that the poor beast had not been more badly hit. 
His hurt was painful enough, no doubt, the ball 
having cut one of his ears right through, making it 
bleed profusely. 

But there was no time to think of the pony’s hurts 
while bullets were whistling about them from be- 
hind; and now Bart could see the cause of the Bea- 
ver’s alarm signal, and bitterly regretted that he 
had not responded and turned at once, the few min- 
utes he had spent in continuing his inspection hav- 
ing been a waste of time sufficient to place all of 
them in deadly peril. 

For there, far out on the plain, was a very large 
body of the Apaches coming on at full gallop, hav- 
ing evidently espied them at last, and they were 
riding now so as to cut them off from their friends, 
and drive them back into the corner formed by the 
mountain and the canyon, a spot where escape 
would have been impossible even without the pres- 
ence of a second hostile party of Indians to make 
assurance doubly sure. 

“ Ride ! ride i” the Beaver said hoarsely; and in 
his excitement his English was wonderfully clear 
and good. “Don’t mind the dogs behind; they 
.cannot hit us as we go t ” 


186 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


All the same, though, as Bart listened to their 
yells and the reports of their rifles, he shuddered, 
and thought of the consequences of one bullet tak- 
ing effect on horse or man. 

Every moment, though, as they rode on, the cries 
of the Apaches behind sounded more faint, but the 
danger in front grew more deadly. 

They picked up first one Indian of their party, 
and then another, the brave fellows siting motion- 
less in their saddles like groups cut in bronze, wait- 
ing for their chief to join them, even though the 
great body of enemies was tearing down towards 
them over the plain. Then as the Beaver reached 
them, a guttural cry of satisfaction left their lips, 
and they galloped on behind their leader without so 
much as giving a look at the dismounted Indians 
who still came running on. 

A tremendous race ! Well it was that the little 
horses had been well fed and also w 7 ell rested for 
some time past, or they would never have been able 
to keep.on at such a headlong speed, tearing up the 
earth at every bound, and spurning it behind them 
as they snorted and shook their great stiaggling 
manes, determined apparently to win in this race 
for life and death, and save their riders from the 
peril in w T hic*h they were placed. 

Another Indian of their scouts was reached, and 
their party increased to five, while tw 7 o more were 
ahead waiting patiently for them to come. 

The wind whistled by their ears; the ponies 
seemed to have become part of them, and every 
nerve w r as now strained to the utmost, but Bart be- 
gan to despair, the Apaches were getting so near. 
They were well mounted, too, and it was such a dis- 
tance yet before the gateway could be reached, 
where the first prospect of a few friendly shots 
could be expected to help them to escape from ^ 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO. 


187 


horrible death. Mercy, Bart knew, there would 
certainly be none, and in spite of all their efforts, it 
seemed as if they must lose the race. 

Involuntarily he cocked his rifle and threw it to the 
left as if getting ready to fire, but the Beaver ut- 
tered an angry cry. 

“No, no; ride, ride,” he said; and Bart felt that 
he was right, for to fire at that vast body would 
have been madness. What good would it do him 
to bring down one or even a dozen among the hun- 
dreds coming on, all thirsting for their blood? 

In response Bart gripped his pony more tightly, 
rising slightly in the stirrups, and the next moment 
they were passing their scout like a flash, and he 
had wheeled his pony and was after them. 

One more scout to reach and then a race of a few 
hundred yards, and rifles would begin to play upon 
their pursuers; but would they ever reach that next 
scout? 

It seemed impossible; but the ponies tore on, and 
Bart began in his excitement to wonder what would 
be done if one should stumble and tall. Would the 
others stop and defend him, or would they gallop 
away to save their own lives ? Then he asked him- 
self what he would do if the Beaver were to go 
down, and he hoped that he would be brave enough 
to try and save so good a man. 

Just then a rifle shot rang out in their front. It 
was fired by the scout they were racing to join. 

It was long shot, but effective, for an Apache 
pony fell headlong down, and a couple more went 
over it, causing a slight diversion in their favor — so 
much, trifling though it was, that the Beaver and 
his party gained a few yards, and, instead of gallop- 
ing right down upon them, the Apaches began to 
edge off a little in the same direction as that in 
which the fugitives were rushing. 


188 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO. 


And still they tore on, while at last the Apaches 
edged off more and more till they were racing on 
about a hundred yards to the left, afraid to close in 
lest their prey should get too far ahead. They were 
all tearing on in this fashion when the last scout 
was reached, already setting spurs to his pony as 
the Beaver passed, and then came the final gallop to 
the gateway for life or death. 

For now came the question: Would the firing of 
their friends check the Apaches, or would they press 
on in deadly strife to the bitter end? 

“Bide up close to rock below Joses,” shouted the 
Beaver; “ then jump off on right side of horse, turn 
and fire;” and with these words, spoken in broken 
English, ringing in his ears, Bart felt his spirits 
rise, and, uttering a cheer full of excitement, he rose 
in his stirrups and galloped on. 

The endurance of the little horses was wonderful, 
but, all the same, the peril was of a terrible nature, 
for the ground which they were forced to take, close 
in under the perpendicular mountain walls, was 
rough and strewn with blocks of stone, and Bart 
felt that the slightest swerve or a fall meant death 
of the most horrible kind. 


IN THE WILDS OE NEW MEXICO* 


189 


CHAPTER XXL 

A PERILOUS MISSION. 

Twice over Bart’s cob hesitated at a monstrous 
piece of rock, and each time he nearly lost his seat, 
but he recovered it and raced on. 

Faster and faster they swept along, the Indian 
followers of the Beaver urging their horses on by 
voice and action, while the yells of the Apaches 
acted like so many goads to the frightened beasts. 

Another fierce race for the last hundred yards, 
with the Apaches closing in more and more, and 
the fate of the fugitives seemed sealed, when, just 
as the enemy gave a fierce yell of triumph, rising in 
their stirrups to lash theii panting little steeds into 
an accelerated pace, the rock suddenly seemed to 
flash, and a sharp spluttering fire to dart from the 
zigzag path. 

Some of the pursuing horses and their riders fell, 
others leaped or stumbled over them; and as Bart 
and his companions drew rein close in beneath the 
gallery, forming a breastwork of their blown horses, 
and began firing with such steadiness as their ex- 
citement would allow, a regular volley flashed from 
above their heads, and Joses and his companions 
followed it up with a triumphant shout. 

The effect was marvelous — the great body of 
Apaches turning as upon a pivot, and sweeping off 
at full gallop over the plain, leaving their dead and 


190 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


wounded behind, and pursued by many a deadly 
shot. 

Bart threw himself down, completely overcome, to 
lie there panting and exhausted, till the doctor and 
Joses came and led him up, the Beaver and his fol- 
lowers staying behind to inclose the cavern stable 
with stont s, after they had placed their own ponies 
and Black Boy within. 

Watch was set that night as usual, but it came on 
so pitchy dark that nothing could be made out dis- 
tinctly a yard away. Bart w T as with the Beaver and 
Joses in their old place in the gallery, fortunately 
well sheltered by the rock overhead, for the rain 
came down in torrents, and gurgled loudty, as it 
rushed in and out of the crevices of the rock, find- 
ing its way to the plains. 

Towards morning the rain ceased, and with the 
rising sun the clouds cleared away, the sun shining 
out brilliantly ; and as the Beaver strained over 
the stones to get a good look into the corral, he ut- 
tered a hoarse cry. 

“ What’s wrong ?” cried Bart and Joses, starting 
up from their wearying cramped position. 

“Cattle gone !” cried the Beaver; and a moment 
later, “ Horses are gone !” 

It was too true; for, taking advantage of the 
darkness and the heavy rain, the Apaches had sent 
in a party of their cleverest warriors, who had 
quietly removed the barriers of rock, and the cattle 
had followed their natural instinct, and gone quietly 
their way dowm to the pastures, w'here, at the first 
breaking of day, there was a strong band of mounted 
men ready to drive them aw r ay into the plain, 
where the Beaver pointed them out miles away, 
moving slowly in the bright sunshiny morning. 

The alarm was given, but nothing could be done, 
and the doctor looked with dismay at the lowering 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


191 


faces of the men who had agreed to follow his for- 
tunes out there into the wilderness. 

It almost seemed as if the Apaches would go away 
contented now; but when Bart asked the Beaver for 
his opinion, he only laughed, grimly. 

“ As long as we are here they will come,” he said. 
“ They will never stay away.” 

The little colony tried to throw off the gloom of 
their misfortune by working hard at getting silver, 
and this proved to be so remunerative that after a 
while there was no more murmuring about the loss 
of the cattle and horses; but all the same, Bart saw 
that the doctor went about in a very moody spirit, 
for he knew that matters could not go on as tlmy 
were. Before long they must have fresh stores, and 
it was absolutely necessary for communication to be 
opened up with Lerisco if they were to exist. 

“I don’t know what is to be done, Bart,” the doc- 
tor said, one day. “ I cannot ask the Indians to go 
without horses, and if a message is not conveyed to 
the governor, asking him for help, the time will 
come, and is not far distant, when we shall be in a 
state of open revolution, because the men will be 
starving.” 

“ Not so bad as that, sir,” cried Bart. 

“ Yes, my dear boy, it is as bad as that, I begin 
to repent of corning upon this silver expedition, for 
I am very helpless here with these wretched savages 
to mar all my plans.” 

It was the very next morning that, after being on 
guard at the gate all night, Bart was thinking of the 
time when, for the sake of protecting the cattle, they 
had kept guard in the gallery over the corral and 
by the cavern stable, when, out in the bright sun- 
shine at the foot of the mountain, he saw a sight 
which made him rub his eyes and ask himself whether 
he was dreaming. 


192 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


For there, calmly cropping what herbage he could 
find, was his old favorite who had carried him so 
often and so well — Black Boy. 

“He must have escaped,” cried Bart, excitedly, 
“ or else it is a trap to get us to go out, and the In- 
dians are waiting for us.” 

With this idea he called Joses and Beaver, show- 
ing them the little horse, and they both agreeing 
that it was no trap or plan on the Indians’ part, 
Bart eagerly ran out and called the docile little 
steed, which came trotting up and laid its soft muz- 
zle in his hand. 

“Yes, Bart,” said the doctor, “we have a horse 
now for a messenger ? but I dare not send you; and 
if you lent Black Boy to the Beaver and sent him, I 
am sure the governor would never respond to my 
appeal for help. I should be doubtful even if I sent 
Joses.” 

“ Black Boy would not let Joses mount him, sir,” 
replied Bart; “ he never would.” 

“ I dare not send you,” said the doctor again. 

“Why not, sir? I could find my way,” replied 
Bart, excitedly. “ Trust me, and I will go and tell 
the governor such a tale that you will see he will 
send a squadron or two of lancers, and horses and 
cattle for our help.” 

“ If I send you, Bart, it must be tonight, with a 
letter for the governor — one which, I am sure, he 
will respond to when he hears from you of the enor- 
mous wealth of the canyon and the mine. Now go 
and consult with the Beaver as to the track you had 
better follow so as to avoid the Indians. I must 
take a few precautions against attack, for they seem 
to be coming straight on, and I sadly fear the}' 
mean to invest us now r .” 

Bart could not help feeling very strangelv excited 
as the evening approached, the more especially that 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


193 


tiie Apaches liad come close on several hundred 
strong. 

“ I shouldn’t wonder if we have a bad storm to- 
night, Master Bart,” said Joses, as the sun set in a 
band of curious coppery colored clouds, while others 
began to form rapidly all over the face of the heav- 
ens, with a strangely weird effect. “You won’t go 
if the weather’s bad, I s’pose, my lad ?” 

“ Indeed, but I shall,” said Bart, excitedly. “ If 
I am to go, I shall go.” 

The doctor came up then and seemed torn by two 
opinions, speaking out frankly to the lad upon the 
point. 

“I don’t want to send you, Bart, and yet I do,” he 
said, rather excitedly. “ It seems an act of cruelty 
to send you forth on such a mission, but it is my 
only hope.” 

“ I’ll go, sir,” cried Bart, earnestly. “ I’ll go for 
your sake and Maude’s.” 

“ Thank you, my brave lad,” cried the doctor, 
with emotion; “but it is going to be a terrible 
night.” 

“ The safer for our purpose, sir,” replied Bart. 

Two hours later, Black Boy, already saddled and 
bridled, a good blanket rolled up on his saddle bow, 
and a bag of meal and some dried bison flesh at- 
tached to his pad behind, was led down the rug- 
ged way to the gate, which had been opened out 
ready. 

Joses and the Indians were on either side ready 
with their rifles, as the lad mounted in the outer 
darkness and silence; a few farewell words were ut- 
tered, and he made his plans as to the direction in 
which he meant to ride, which was pretty close in 
to the side of the mountain for about a quarter of a 
mile, and then away at right angles for the end of 
the lake, 


194 


IN THE WILDS OF NENV MEXICO. 


“ Good by, my boy, and God be with you,” whis- 
pered the doctor, pressing one hand. 

“ Take care of yourself, dear lad,” whispered 
Joses, pressing the other, and then giving way to 
the chief, who bent forward, saying, in his low, 
grave voice: 

“ The Beaver-with-Sharp-Teeth would like to ride 
beside the brave young chief, but the Great Spirit 
says it must not be. Go, you can laugh at the 
Apache dogs.” 

Bart could not answer, but pressed his steed’s 
sides, and the brave little animal ambled over the 
soft ground, avoiding the rocks and tall prickly 
cacti with wonderful skill, while Bart sat there, his 
ears attent and nostrils distended, listening for the 
slightest sound of danger, as the Indians might be 
swarming round him for aught he knew. 

The darkness was terrible, and still there was a 
strange lurid aspect above him, showing dimly the 
edge of the top of the mountain. That there was 
going to be a storm he felt sure — everything was so 
still, the heat was so great, and the strange oppres- 
sion of the air foretold its coming; but be hoped to 
be far on his way and beyond the Indians ere it 
came, for the flashes of lightning might betray him 
to the watchful eyes of the enemy, and then he 
knew it meant a ride for life, as it would not take 
the Apaches long to mount. 

All at once, as he was riding cautiously along, his 
rifle slung behind him, and his head bent forward 
to peer into the darkness, there was a sharp flash, 
and what seemed to be a great star of fire struck the 
rock, shedding a brilliant light which revealed all 
around for a short distance, as if a light had sud- 
denly appeared from an opening in the mountain. 
Then, close in beneath where the electric bolt had 
struck, he could see a knot of about a dozen Indians, 


IN THE WILDS OF MEW MEXICO. 


195 


who uttered a tremendous yell as they caught sight 
of him, making Black Boy tear off at full speed, 
while the next moment there was a deafening crash, 
and it seemed to Bart that a huge mass of the moun- ~ 
tain side had fallen crumbling down. 

That one flash which struck the mountain seemed 
as if it had been the signal for the elements to com- 
mence their strife, for directly after the heavens 
were in a blaze. Forked lightnings darted here 
and there; the dense clouds opened and shut, as if 
to reveal the wondrously vivid glories beyond, and 
the thunder kept up a series of deafening peals that 
nearly drove the little steed frantic. 

Bart knew that the pealing thunder would effectu- 
ally prevent the Indians from hearing him, but the 
lightning was a terrible danger when it lit up the 
plains; and as he peered ahead he fully expected to 
see a body of horsemen riding to cut him off. 

He had, however, no occasion to fear present pur- 
suit, for the knot of dismounted Indians whom he 
had seen close under the rock when the lightning 
fell, lay crushed and mangled amongst a pile of 
shattered rocks which the electric discharge had 
sent thundering down; but as the storm lulled, and 
another little body of dismounted Indians crept 
cautiously up to the fallen rocks, their object being 
to surprise the guards at the gateway, they learned 
from one of their dying friends of the appearance of 
the young chief upon liis little black horse, and that 
he had gone right off over the plain. 

The sequel to this was that Bart was put into 
deadly danger before he had ridden many hours. 


196 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


CHAPTER XXH. 
bart’s ride. 

As the sun rose, flooding the wild plains with 
heat, and Bart drew rein and looked about after his 
long night ride to see that there was hardly a cloud 
in sight — and, better still, no signs of Indians — he 
uttered a cry of joy, and bent down and smoothed 
and patted his brave little steed, which had carried 
him so far and so well. 

Then he turned a little to the east, and rode 
straight for a clump of trees about a couple of miles 
away — a spot that promised ample herbage and 
shade, perhaps water, while, unseen, he could keep 
a good lookout over the open plain. 

The patch Bart reached was only a few acres in 
extent, and it offered more than he had bargained 
for, there being a pleasantly clear pool of water in 
an open spot, while the grass was so tempting that 
he had hardly time to remove Black Boy’s bit, so 
eager was he to begin. 

He was soon tethered to a stout sapling, however, 
feeding away to his heart’s content, while, pretty 
well wearied out by his long night ride, Bart sat 
down beneath a tree, where lie could have a good 
view of the plain over which he had ridden, and be- 
gan to refresh himself, after a good draught of pure 
cool water, with one of the long, dry strips of bison 
meat that formed his store. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


197 


Bart soon found a drowsiness stealing over him, 
and then he began to nod. 

Three or four times he aroused himself with an 
angry shake, but after a while he succumbed utterly. 
The sun mounted higher and higher, to the highest 
point in the heavens, and then came down and down, 
till its light began to grow softer and more mellow, 
and the shadows cast by the tree trunks went out in 
a different direction from that which they had taken 
when Bart dropped asleep. 

All at once he awoke in a fright, for something 
hard was thumping and pawing at his chest, and, 
on looking up, there was Black Boy right over him, 
scraping and pawing at him as if impatient to go on. 

“ Why, I must have been asleep,” cried Bart, catch- 
ing at the horse’s head stall and thrusting him 
away. “ Gently, old boy ; your hoofs are not very 
soft. You hurt.” 

He raised himself up, stretching the while. 

“ How tiresome to sleep like that ! ” he muttered. 
“ Why, I had not finished my breakfast, and ” 

Bart said no more, but stood there motionless, 
staring straight before him, where the plain was now 
ruddy and glowing with the rays of the evening sun. 

For there, about a mile away, he could see a body 
of some twenty or thirty Indians coming over the 
plain at an easy rate, guided evidently by one on 
foot who ran before them with bended head, and 
Bart knew as well as if he had heard the word 
shouted in his ear that they were following him by 
his trail. 

There was not a moment to lose, and with tremb- 
ling hands he secured the buckles of the saddle 
girths, and strapped on the various little articles 
that formed his luggage, slung his rifle, and then, 
leading the cob to the other side of the patch of 
woodland, where he would be out of sight of the 


198 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


Indians' lie mounted, marked a spot on the horizon 
which would keep him in a direct line, and the 
woodland clump as long as possible between him 
and his enemies, and rode swiftly off. 

Instead of riding boldly up, and finding out that 
Bart had just galloped away, the Apaches approached 
by means of three or four dismounted men, who 
crept slowly from clump of brush to patch of long 
grass, and so on and on, till first one and then an- 
other reached the edge of the woody place, where 
they rested for a time, eagerly scanning each leaf 
and tree trunk for an enemy at whom to fire or who 
would fire at them. 

Then they crept on a little farther and found 
Bart’s halting place and the feeding ground of the 
horse. Then they came by degrees upon his trail 
through the wood, all very fresh, and still they went 
on cautiously, and like men to whom a false step 
meant a fatal bullet wound, while all the time their 
companions sat there upon the plain, keen and watch- 
ful, ready for action at a moment’s notice, and wait- 
ing the signal to come on. 

At last this came, for the advance dismounted 
scouts had traced the trail to the farther edge of the 
wood, and seen even the deep impression made by 
Bart’s foot as he sprang upon his steed. 

Then the mounted Apaches came on at a great 
rate, dashed through the wood and came up to their 
friends, who triumphantly pointed to the emerging 
trail, and on they all went once more, one man only 
remaining dismounted to lead the party, while the 
rest followed close behind. 

This little piece of caution had given poor Bart 
two hours’ start, and when the Indians came out of 
the wood he had been a long time out of sight ; but 
there was his plainly marked trail, and that they 
could follow, and meant to follow to the end. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


199 


Bart had the advantage of his enemies in this, that 
as loug as he could keep well oat of sight across the 
plains he could go on as fast as his horse could 
gallop, while they had to cautiously track his every 
step. Then, too, when he came to dry, rocky or 
stony portions, he took advantage thereof, for he 
knew that his horse’s hoof prints would be indistinct, 
and sometimes disappear altogether. 

He pressed on, hitting the backward route pretty 
accurately, and recognized the various mountains and 
hills they had passed under the Beaver’s guidance, 
and every stride taken by the untiring little horse 
had its effect upon the lad, for he was one nearer 
to safety. 

Still it was a terrible ride, for it was only after 
traversing some stony plain or patch of rock that he 
dared draw rein and take a few hours’ rest, while his 
steed fed and recruited its energies as well. 

He would lie down merely meaning to rest, and 
then drop off fast asleep, to awaken in an agony of 
dread, expecting to see the Apaches springing upon 
him to end his career. 

They, for their part, kept up their untiring track- 
ing of the trail day after day till it was too dark to 
pee, and the moment it was light enough to distin- 
guish a foot print they were after him again. 

It was a terrible journey— terrible in its loneliness 
as well as in its real and imaginary dangers, for 
$liere was a good deal of fancied dread towards the 
latter part of the time, when Bart had reached a 
point where the Apaches gave up the chase, civiliza- 
tion being too near at hand for them to venture 
farther. 

But there was the town at last, looking indistinct, 
though, and misty. All seemed to be like a dream 
now, and the crowd of swarthy, ragged Mexicans, in 
£heir blankets, sombreros, and rags, were all part of 


200 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


his dream too, as with his last effort he thrust his 
hand into his breast and took out the letter of which 
he was the bearer. 

Then it seemed to him that, as he cantered through 
the crowd, with his cob throwing up the dust of the 
plaza, it was some one else who waved a letter over 
his head, shouting : “ The governor ! the governor !” 
to the swarthy, staring mob ; and, lastly, that it was 
somebody else who, worn out with exhaustion now 
that the task was done, felt as if everything had gone 
from him, every nerve and fiber had become relaxed, 
and fell heavily from the cob he rode into the dust. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


201 


CHAPTER XXIH. 

AID FOR THE BESIEGED. 

For some hours all was blank to the brave young 
fellow, and then he seemed to struggle back to con- 
sciousness to find Maude seated by his bedside, 
looking very pale and anxious. As soon as he 
opened his eyes, she rose and went to fetch the 
governor, who soon entered with a doctor. It was 
found that Bart had no fever and no injuries. He 
had merely suffered from utter exhaustion, and even 
now was almost as strong as ever, thanks to his long 
rest. 

“ Tomorrow night, my lad,” said the governor in 
answer to Bart’s eager appeals to him for an imme- 
diate start. “ Tomorrow night is the very earliest 
time we can be ready. The men could set out at 
once, but we must have store wagons prepared, and 
a sufficiency of things to enable the doctor to hold 
his own when these savage beasts have been tamed 
down. They do not deserve to be called men.” 

“ But you will lose no time, sir ? ” cried Bart. 

“Not a minute, my lad ; and so you had better 
eat and sleep all you can till we are quite ready to 
start.” 

In that way and in narrating many past adven- 
tures to the governor’s lady and children, and in 
pleasant converse with Maude, Bart passed the time 
easily enough, and when the hour of departure had 
arrived he and Black Boy were as fleet and strong 
and ardent as they had ever been. 


202 IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 

Bart found a dozen wagons had been filled with 
stores, thirty horses had been provided with drivers 
and caretakers, and a troop of fifty lancers, with 
their baggage wagons and an ample supply of am- 
munition, were being prepared for their march, their 
captain carefully inspecting his men’s accouterments 
the while. 

A finer body of bronzed and active men it would 
have been impossible to select. Every one was 
armed with a short heavy bore rifle, a keen saber, 
and a long, sharply pointed lance ; while their 
horses were the very perfection of chargers — swift, 
full of bone and sinew, and looking as if, could their 
riders but get a chance, four times the number of 
Indians would go down before them like dry reeds 
in a furious gale. 

“ Are you only going to take fifty ? ” said Bart to 
the captain. 

“ That’s all, my lad,” was the reply. “ Is it not 
enough ? ” 

“ There must have been five hundred Indians be- 
fore the camp,” replied Bart. 

“ Well, that’s only ten times as many,” said the 
captain, laughingly. “ Fifty are more than enough 
for such an attack, for we have discipline on our 
side, while they are onl} r a mob. Don’t you be 
afraid, my boy. I dare say we shall prove too many 
for them.” 

“ I was not afraid,” said Bart, stoutly ; “ but I 
don’t want to see your party overwhelmed.” 

“ W ell, my young Indian runner,” said the gov- 
ernor, coming up, “ are you ready for another skir- 
mish ? ” 

“ Yes, sir, I’m ready now,” said Bart, promptly, 
“I can saddle up in five minutes.” 

“ I shall be ready at sunset,” said the captain ; 
“my men are ready now.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


203 


“I’ve made up my mind to go with you,” said the 
governor. 

“You, sir! ” cried Bart. 

“ Yes, my lad. I want to see the silver canyon 
and your mountain fortress. And besides, it seems 
to me that a brush with the Indians will do me good. 
I want them to have a severe lesson, for they are 
getting more daring in their encroachments every 
day. Can yc u make room for me ? ” 

The captain expressed his delight, and Bart's eyes 
flashed as he felt that it was one more well armed, 
active, fighting man. 

When evening came, after an affectionate farewell, 
and amidst plenty of cheers from the swarthy mob 
of idlers, the well mounted little party rode out 
along the road leading to the plains, with the lancers’ 
accouterments jingling, their lance points gilded by 
the setting sun, and tUeir black and yellow pennons 
fluttering in the pleasant evening breeze. 

“ At last,” said Bart to himself, as he reined up 
and drew aside to see the gallaut little array pass. 
“ Oh ! if we can only get one good chance at the 
cowardly savages! They won’t hurt me now!” 

And in imagination he saw himself riding in the 
line of horsemen, going at full speed for a body of 
bloodthirsty Indians, and driving them helter skelter 
like chaff before a storm. 

With Bart for a guide, the relief party made good 
progress, but they were of course kept back a great 
deal by the wagons, well horsed as they were. Alone, 
the lancer troop could have gone rapidly over the 
ground, but the sight of hovering knots of Apaches 
appearing to right and left and in their rear, told 
that they were well watched, and that if the baggage 
was left for a few hours a descent would be sure to 
follow. 

In fact, several attempts were made as they got 


204 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


farther out into the plains to lure the lancers away 
from their stores, but Captain Miguel was too well 
versed in plain fighting to be led astray by these 
tactics. 

“No,” he said. “ I have been bitten once. They’d 
get us miles away feigning attacks and leading us 
on, and at last, when we made ready for a charge, 
they’d break up and gallop in all directions; while 
the wagons would have been rifled and their guards 
all slain. I think we’ll get our stores safe at the sil- 
ver canyon fort, and then, if the Apaches will show 
fight, why, we shall be there.” 

Ten days glided on, with plenty of alarms, for, 
from being harassed by the presence of about a 
dozen Indians, these increased and grew till there 
would be nearly a hundred hovering around, and 
constantly on the watch to cut off any stragglers 
from the little camp. 

They never succeeded, however, for the captain was 
too watchful. He never attempted any charges, but 
when the savages grew too daring he gave a few 
short sharp orders, and half a dozen of the best 
marksmen dismounted and made such jmactice with 
their short rifles, that pony after pony went gallop- 
ing riderless over the plain. 

This checked the enemy, but after a few hours 
they would come on again, and it seemed as if mes- 
sengers were sent far and wide, for the Indians grew 
in numbers, till at the time when half the distance 
was covered, it seemed as if at least four hundred 
were always hovering around in bands of twenty or 
forty, making dashes down as if they meant to ride 
right through the camp, or cut the body of lancers 
in two. For they would come on yelling and utter- 
ing derisive cries till pretty close, and then wheel 
round like a flock of birds and gallop off again into 
the plain. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


205 


“ Bali ! Let the miserable mosquitoes be,” said the 
captain, contemptuously. “ We have not much far- 
ther to go, I suppose.” 

“ I hope to show you the mountain tomorrow,” re- 
plied Bart. 

“ Then they can wait for their chastisement for 
another day or two. Come now, my excitable young 
friend, you think I have been rather quiet and tame 
with these wretches, don’t you ?” 

Bart’s face grew scarlet. 

“ Well, sir, yes, I do,” he said, frankly. 

“ Well spoken,” said Captain Miguel, “ well 
spoken; but you are wrong, my boy. I have longed, 
for days past, to lead my men in a good dashing 
charge, and drive these savage animals back to their 
dens; but I am a soldier in command, and I have to 
think of my men as well as my own feelings. These 
fifty men are to me worth all the Indian nations, 
and I cannot spare one life — no, not one drop of 
blood, unless it is to give these creatures such a 
blow as will cow them and teach them to respect a 
civilized people, who ask nothing of them but to be 
left alone. Wait a little longer, my lad; the time 
has not yet come.” 

That night strong outposts were formed, for the 
Indians were about in great force; but no attack 
was made, and at daybreak on a lovely morning, 
they were once more in motion, while, to Bart's 
great surprise, though he swept the plain in every 
direction, not an Indian was to be seen. 

“ What does that mean, think you ?” said the gov- 
ernor, smiling. 

“ An ambush,” replied Bart. “ They are waiting 
for us somewhere.” 

*• Bight,” exclaimed the captain, carefully inspect- 
ing the plain; “but there is little chance of ambush 
here, the ground is too open, unless they await us 


206 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


on the other side of that rolling range of hills. You 
are right, though, my lad; it is to take effect later 
on. This is to lull us into security; they have not 
gone far.” 

A couple of hours brought them to the foot of the 
low ridge, when scouts were sent forward; but they 
signaled with their lances that the coast was clear, 
and the party rode on till the top was reached, and 
spurring a little in advance of the troop in company 
with the captain and the governor, Bart reined up 
and pointed right away over the gleaming lake to 
where the mountain stood up like some huge fort, 
built in the middle of the plain. 

“ There is the rock fortress,” he cried. 

“Forward, then!” cried the captain; “we must be 
there tonight. Keep up well with the wagons, and 
— halt! Yes, I expected so; there are our enemies 
away there in the distance. They will be down 
upon us before long, like so many swarms of bees.” 

The greatest caution was no# observed, and they 
rode steadily on for a few miles farther, when Bart 
joyfully pointed out that the occupants of the rock 
fortress were still safe. 

“ How can you tell that ?” said the governor, 
eagerly. 

“By the flag, sir,” said Bart. “There it is out 
upon the extreme right of the mountain. If the In- 
dians had got the better of the doctor’s party they 
would have torn it down.” 

“ Or perhaps kept it up as a lure to entrap us,” 
said the captain, smiling; “but I think you are right 
about that.” 

“ What a splendid position for a city !” exclaimed 
the governor, as they rode on towards where the wa- 
ters of the lake gleamed brightly in the sun. 

“ Yes, a great town might be placed there,” said 
the captain, thoughtfully; “but you would want 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


207 


some large barracks and a little army,” be added, 
with a smile, “ to keep our friends there at a dis- 
tance.” 

For, as they neared the mountain, it seemed omi- 
nously like a certainty that the savages now meant 
to make a tremendous onslaught upon the band, for 
they were steadily coming on in large numbers, as 
if to meet the new comers before they could form a 
junction with the holders of the rock. 

“I don’t want to fight them if I can help it,” said 
Captain Miguel, scanning the approaching Indians 
carefully as they advanced — “ not until the wagons 
are in safety. If we do have to charge them, you 
drivers are all to make for the rock so as to get un- 
der the cover of our friends’ fire. That is if it 
comes to a serious attack, but I do not think it 
will.” 

The watchfulness and care now exercised by their 
leader showed how well worthy he was of being 
placed in such a position, and the men, even to the 
governor, obeyed him without a word, though at 
times his orders seemed to run in opposition to their 
own ideas. For he seemed to be almost skirmishing 
from the Indians, instead of making a bold stand, 
and the result w r as that when, after a couple of 
hours, they came on in strength, their insolence in- 
creased with the seeming timidity of the relieving 
force. 

All at once there was a fluttering of pennons, and 
the lances of the little Mexican force dropped from 
the perpendicular to the level, the spear p>oints glis- 
tening like lightning in the evening sun. 

This evolution startled the Apachas, some of whom 
began to draw rein, others rode over them, and the 
great cloud of horsemen began to exhibit signs of 
confusion. Some, however, charged on towards the 
w r agons, and thus escaped the impact, as, with a 


m 


in thu wilds o e new mexico, 


hearty cheer, and their horses at racing pace, the 
lancers dashed at, into, and over the swarm of 
Indians, driving their way right through. 

Their course was strewn with Apaches and their 
ponies, but not a Mexican was left behind ; and then, 
before the savages could recover from their astonish- 
ment, the gallant little band had wheeled round and 
were coming back, trot — canter — gallop, once more 
at racing speed. 

There was another tremendous impact, for there 
were so many of the savages that they could not 
avoid the charge, and once more the lancers rode 
right through them, leaving the ground strewn with 
dead and wounded men and ponies. 

Their riderless steeds added to the confusion, 
while no sooner were the lancers clear, and forming 
up once more a couple of hundred yards away, than 
a tremendous fire was opened from the rock fortress 
and the wagon train, making men fall fast. 

The lancers were soon in motion once more for 
their third charge, but this was only a feint, for the 
firing would have been fatal to friend as well as foe, 
there being no one to signal stay. 

Still the Apaches did not know this, and having 
had two experiences — their first — of the charge of a 
body of heavily mounted, well disciplined men, they 
were satisfied, and as the lancers began to canter, 
were in full flight over the plain, men and ponies 
dropping beneath the fire and from previously re- 
ceived lance wounds, while the ground for a broad 
space was literally spotted with the injured and the 
dead. 

“ Oh, if I could have been with you ! ” cried Bart, 
riding up to the captain, rifle in hand. 

“Let soldiers do soldiers’ work, my young friend,” 
said the captain, bluntly. “You are excited now; 
perhaps you will think differently another time.” 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


209 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE SILVER CITY IN THE PLAINS. 

Bart did think differently when he cooled down, 
and after a warm greeting from the doctor, who 
praised his bravery and thanked him for bringing 
help, saw the. dreary business of burying the fallen 
in those fierce charges ; for he shuddered and thought 
of the horrors of such an occupation, even when the 
fights were in thorough self defense. 

Joses was full of excitement, and kept on shaking 
hands with the Beaver instead of with Bart. 

“I knew he’d do it. I knew he’d do it,” he kept 
on saying. “ There ain’t a braver lad nowhere, 
that I will say.” 

There was but little time for talking and congrat- 
ulations, however, for the wagons had to be unloaded, 
and camp formed for the lancers and Mexicans, the 
former being out in the plains driving in the Indian 
ponies that had not gone off with the Apaches, the 
result being that thirty were inclosed in the corral 
before dark, being some little compensation for the 
former loss. 

Bart learned that night, when the captain and the 
governor were the guests of the doctor, that beyond 
occasional alarms but little had gone on during his 
absence. The Indians had been there all the time, 
and his friends had always been in full expectation 
of an attack, night or day, but none had come. 

The most serious threatening had been on the 


210 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


night when Bart set off, but the terrible storm had 
evidently stopped it, and the doctor related how 
the rock had been struck by lightning, a large 
portion shattered, and the bodies of several Indians 
found there the next morning. 

There was a good watch set that night, not that 
there was much likelihood of the Indians returning, 
but to make sure ; and then many hours were spent 
in rejoicing, for several of the adventurers had been 
giving way to despair, feeling that they had done 
wrong in coming, and were asking in dismay what 
was to become of them when the stores were ex- 
hausted . 

“We can’t eat silver,” they had reproachfully said 
to the doctor ; and when he reminded them how he 
had sent for help, they laughed him to scorn. 

All murmurs were now silenced, and, light hearted 
and joyous, the future of the silver canyon became 
the principal topic of conversation with all. 

The next morning, as it was found that the Indians 
were still hovering about, Captain Miguel showed 
himself ready for any emergency. The Beaver and 
his men were at once mounted on the pick of the 
Indian ponies, and a start was made to meet the 
enemy. 

So well was this expedition carried out, that, after 
a good deal of feinting and maneuvering, the captain 
was enabled to charge home once more, scattering 
the Indians like chaff and this time pursuing them 
to their temporary camp, with the result that the 
Apaches, thoroughly cowed by the attacks of these 
horsemen, who fought altogether like one man, con- 
tinued their flight, and the whole of the horses and 
cattle, with many Indian ponies as well, were taken 
and driven back in triumph to the corral by the 
rocks. 

This encounter with the Indians proved most ef- 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


211 


fectual, for the portion of the nation to which they 
belonged had never before encountered disciplined 
troops ; and so stern was the lesson they received, 
that, though predatory parties were seen from time 
to time, it was quite a year before any other serious 
encounter took place. 

In the meantime the governor had been so im- 
pressed with the value of the doctor’s discovery that, 
without interfering in the slightest degree with his 
prospects, communications were at once opened with 
Lerisco, more people were invited to come out, 
smelting furnaces were erected, the silver purified, 
and in less than six months a regular traffic had been 
established across the plains, over which mules laden 
with the precious metal, escorted by troops, were 
constantly going and returning with stores for use 
in the mining town. 

A town began to spring up rapidly, with ware- 
houses and stores, for the mountain was no longer 
standing in solitary silence in the middle of the 
great plain. The hum of industry was ever to be 
heard ; the picks of the miners were constantly at 
work ; the great stamps that had been erected loudly 
pounded up the ore ; and the nights that had been 
dark and lonely out there in the plains were now 
illuminated, and watched with wonder by the roving 
Apaches, when the great silver furnaces glowed and 
roared. 

The growth of the place was marvelous, the can- 
yon proving to be so rich in the finest kinds of silver, 
that the ore had but to be roughly torn out of the 
great rift that was first shown by the chief, and the 
profits were so enormous that Doctor Lascelles be- 
came as great a man in his way as the governor, 
while Bart, as his head officer and superintendent of 
the mine, had rule over quite a host. 

Houses rose rapidly, many of them being of a most 


212 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


substantial kind, and in addition, a large barrack 
was built for the accommodation of fifty men who 
worked as miners, but had certain privileges besides 
for forming the troop of well mounted lancers, whose 
duty it was to protect the mining town and the silver 
canyon from predatory bands of Apaches. 

The lancers were raised and drilled by Captain 
Miguel, Bart being appointed their leader when he 
had grown to years of discretion — that is to say, of 
greater discretion than of old, and that was soon 
after Doctor Lascelles had said to him one day : 
“ Well, yes, Bart, you have seemed to be like my 
son. I think it will be as well.” It may be guessed 
that the conversation related to Bart’s marriage 
with Maude. 

But, in spite of his prosperity, and the constant 
demand for his services in connection with the mines 
and the increase of the town, Bart never forgot his 
delight in a ramble in tbe wilds; and whenever time 
allowed, and the Beaver and some of his followers 
had come in from some hunting expedition, there 
was just a hint to Joses, when before daybreak next 
morning a start was made either to hunt bison and 
pronghorn, the black tailed deer in the wocds at the 
foot of the mountain, or to fish in some part of the 
canyon. 

Unfortunately, though, the sparkling} river became 
spoiled by degrees, owing to the enormous quanti- 
ties of mine refuse that ran in, poisoning the fish 
and pre venting them from coming anywhere near 
the mountain. 

Still there w r ere plenty to be had by those daring 
enough to risk an encounter with the Indians, and 
many were the excursions Bart enjoyed with Joses 
and the Beaver, both remaining his attached follow- 
ers, though the latter used to look sadly at the 
change that had come over the land. 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


213 


And truly it was a wondrous change. Some years 
later came the Mexican war, and the region passed 
under the control of the United States government. 
As years passed on the town grew enormously — 
works sprang up with towering chimneys and furn- 
aces, the former ever belching out their smoke; 
while of such importance did Silver Canyon City 
grow, and so great was the traffic, that mules and 
wagons could no longer do the work. 

The result is easy to guess. There was a vast 
range of rolling plain to cross, a few deviations en- 
abling the engineer, who surveyed the country with 
Apaches watching him, to avoid the mountains; and 
this being done, and capital abundant, a railway 
crept, like a sinuous serpent, from Lerisco to the 
mountain foot, along which panted and raced the 
heavily laden trains. 

The Apaches scouted, and there was some little 
trouble with them at first, but they were punished 
pretty severely, though they took no lesson so deeply 
to heart as the one. read their chief upon seeing the 
first train run along the rails. 

Poor wretch ! he had not much more sense than a 
bison, for he galloped his little pony right on to the 
line, and pressed forward to meet the engine after 
firing his rifle — he rode no more. 

“ Well, I dare say it’s all right, Master Bart,” said 
Joses one day; “ everybody’s getting rich and happy, 
and all the rest of it; but somehow, I like the good 
old times.” 

‘ Why, Joses ?” said Bart. 

“ Because, you see, Master Bart, we seem to be so 
horrid safe now.” 

“ Safe, Joses ?” 

“Yes; Master Bart,” grumbled the old fellow; 
“ there ain’t no risks, no keeping watch o’ nights, 
no feeling as it aren’t likely that you’ll ever see an- 


214 


IN THE WILDS OF NEW MEXICO. 


other morning, and it isn’t exciting enough for me.” 

But then the Beaver came back with some news 
that made Joses’s eyes sparkle. 

“ There’s buffalo out on the far plain, captain,” he 
said; “ and I’ve seen sign of mountain sheep three 
days’ journey up the canyon. Will the young chief 
Bart go ?” 

“ That I will, Beaver,” cried Bart. “ Tomorrow at 
daybreak.” 

Then Black Boy would be saddled, for the sturdy 
little cob never seemed to grow old, except that 
there were a few gray hairs in his black coat; pro- 
visions were prepared, ammunition packed, good 
bys said, and for a few days Bart and his friends 
would be off into the wilderness, away from the bus- 
tle and toil always in progress now at the Silver 
Canyon. 

THE END. 


No. 13 OF MUNSEY’S POPULAR SERIES IS ENTITLED 

THAT TREASURE; 


OR, 

ADVENTURES OF FRONTIER LIFE. 

BY FRANK H. CONVERSE. 

Author of “ A Voyage to the Gold Coast f “ The Mystery 
of a Diamond ,” etc. 


No. 1 OF MUNSEY’S POPULAR SERIES is entitled 


THE MOUNTAIN GAVE: 

OR, 

The Mystery of the Sierra Nevada 

BY 

GEORGE H. COOMER, 

Author of “ The Boys in the Forecastle,” “ The Old 
Man of the Mountain,” etc. 


This is a thrilling tale of the strange experiences of a boy 
captured by a lawless gang among the wild mountains of Cali- 
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“ The Mountain Cave ” can be ordered from any book store 
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FRANK A. MUNSEY, 

81 Warren St.. New York. 


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A Voyage to the Gold Goast ■ 

OR, 


JACK BOND’S QUEST, 


BY FRANK H. CONVERSE, 

Author of “ Van,” “ In Southern Seas,” etc., etc. 


This is another tale of unusual merit and interest. It tells 
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A Story of Real Ships and Real Sailors. 

BY GEORGE H. COOMER, 


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This is one of the best of Mr. Coomer’s healthy, manly tales, 
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BARBARA’S TRIUMPHS 

OR. 

The Fortunes of a Young Artist. 

BY MARY A. DENISON, 

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Mrs. Denison is an author of national reputation, and she 
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Humber. 9 1 ; 

OB, 

THE ADVENTURES OF A NEW YORK 
TELEGRAPH BOY. 

BY ARTHUR LEE PUTNAM, 

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Mr. Putnam is one of the best writers for young people of 
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— OF- - 

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In this story the author, who himself served as United States 
Scout, draws a graphic and remarkable picture of some of the 
strangest episodes of the war. The scene is laid in the great 
swamps of the lower Mississippi, where a party of Southern 
boys, of whom Luke Bennett is the leader, hide to avoid ser- 
vice in the army at Vicksburg. Hero they are joined by Ned 
Marsh, a Northern ensign, who has lost his way while perform- 
ing a perilous mission in the bayous ; and he renders valuable 
aid to the refugees against the attacks of their many enemies. 

“Luke Bennett’s HideOut” can be ordered from any book- 
store or newsdealer, price 25 cents ; or you can get it post paid 
by mail, by sending that amount to the publisher, 

FRANK A. MUNSEY. 

81 Warren it., New York. 


No. lO OF MUNSEY’S POPULAR SERIES is entitled 



TRACY: 


The Trials of a New York Newsboy, 

BY 


ARTHUR LEE PUTNAM, 

Author of “ Number 91,” “ A New York Boyf etc. 


S 

This is a vivid and fascinating story of life in the great city, 
full of varied adventures in the highways and bywaj r s of the 
metropolis. The volume is handsomely illustrated by the late 
I. B. Woodward, and can be ordered from any bookstore or 
newsdealer, price 25 cents ; or you can get it post paid by mail, 
by sending that amount to the publisher, 

FRANK A. MUNSEY, 

SI Warren St., Nfw York. 


LB Ag’12 



"Wight, 1888, 

tAKK A. MUNSKT. 




July, 1888. 


Subscription Price, 

Per Year, 12 Numbers, |3. 


Entered at the Post Office at New York as Second Class Mall Matter. 


IN THE 


NILDS OF 


NEW MEXICO 


BY 

G. M. F E N N . 

ILLUSTRATED. 


No copyright books by leading authors for boys and girls equaling this series 
uerit and purity icere evei' before published for less than $?,25 a copy. 

—The Publisher. 



Copyright, 1888, by Frank A, Munsky. 




NEW YORK : 


IBANK A. MUNSEY, PUBLISHER. 


1888 . 



A NEW BOOK. 


Afloat in a Great City; 


A STORY OF STRANGE INCIDENTS, 

BY 

FRANK A. MUNSEY, PuMiehe. of “Thu ^Golden Argosy, 


This story, one of tlie most popular of its author's works, has 
just been issued in book form. It is a deeply interesting nar- 
rative of a boy who finds himself adrift in New York, homeless 
and friendless, knowing neither whence he came nor whither 
he is going. It tells of the wonderful series of adventures that 
befel him, and of his brave struggle to discover his parentage 
and reach the position which he believed to be rightfully liis. 

'^AFLOAT IN A GREAT CITY/’ 

is an exceedingly handsome volume. It contains 388 pageft, 
and is fully illustrated, and beautifully bound in cloth and gilt. 
It is a book which every boy and girl wlio likes good literature 
will wish to have. 

It can be ordered at any book store, price $1.25 ; or you can 
get it post paid by mail by sending that amount to 
FRANK A. MUNSEY, 

SI Warren SI,, Xnr Yovl:. 


No. 11 of MUNSEY’S POPULAR SERIES is entitled 


THE 


SMUGGLERS’ CAVE; 

OR, 

WHO SHALL BE THE HEIR? 

BY 

A XNJE A SUMO R E, 

Author of “ Warren Haviland etc. 



This volume is one that holds the interest enchained from 
the first page to the last by a sort of spell. Pile reader’s ad- 
miration and sympathy will be deeply aroused by the young 
hero, Fred Somerset, and by the devotion with which his 
young cousin Frank clings, to him in the terrible trials he un- 
dergoes. 

“ Tlio Smugglers’ Cave ” can be ordered from any bool£ 
store or newsdealer, price 25 cents ; or you can get it post paid 
by mail by sending that amount to the publisher, 

FRANK A. MUNSEY, 

81 Warren St., New York 



The Golden Argosy 


is without doubt the most popular Weekly Magazine 
for boys and girls now before the public. 

Its contents are pure, entertaining and instructive. 
The finest stories in the world can be found in 
the Argosy — stories by 



OLIVER OPTIC, 

HORATIO ALGER, Jr., 

GEORGE H. COOMER, 

FRANK H. CONVERSE, 
EDWARD S. ELLIS, 

CAPT. C. B. ASHLEY, 

ARTHUR LEE PUTNAM, 

BROOKS McCORMICK, 

MATTHEW WHITE, U>., 

ai.a others. 

The Golden Argosy can be had from all newsdealers, 
or from the publisher, Frank A. Munsey, 81 Warren 
Street, New York., 


Single numbers, six cents ; yearly subscription 
price, three dollars. 

\ Sample copies of the Argosy will be forwarded 
free by the publisher to any one desiring them. 


Six Serial Stories are published weekly in the Argosy. 





















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